Chinese power cell giant CATL will supply Tesla with 45 GWh of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, 36kr reported. There are standard range versions of the Model 3 and Model Y with LFP batteries, with the former having a 55-kWh battery capacity and the latter having a 60-kWh battery capacity. As a result, the 45GWh battery order will correspond to about 800,000 vehicles.
Combined, Tesla sold more than 627,350 vehicles in the first three quarters of this year. Model 3 and Model Y sales totaled 614,165 units in the first three quarters.
In addition, Tesla’s Nevada battery plant will expand to be able to produce 40 GWh in 2022. The report quoted industry sources as estimating that Tesla will sell at least 1.5 million units in 2022 with supplies from Panasonic and LG Chem.
Aside from booking 45 GWh of batteries from CATL, Tesla plans to expand its existing orders, and the two sides have already begun talks, the report said. CATL at this time did not comment.
Tesla reported record earnings last week with revenue of $13.757 billion for the third quarter, up 57 percent from a year ago and exceeding analysts’ expectations of $13.63 billion. Tesla’s revenue also exceeded $10 billion for the fourth consecutive quarter. Tesla aims to deliver nearly 900,000 vehicles in 2021, an increase of more than 50 percent over last year’s nearly 500,000 deliveries.
Teslas LFP strategy
Tesla announced at the time that it would switch to LFP batteries worldwide for standard range vehicles. LFP batteries are expected to gain even more ground with this move. In July, the China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance released data showing that the number of LFP battery installations in the country had surpassed ternary battery installations for the first time this year.
The data shows that China’s installed base of power batteries increased by 138.6 percent year-over-year in September as well as 25 percent from August. A total of 6.1GWh of ternary batteries was installed, up 45.6% from August and 45.6 percent year over year. But the volume of LFP battery installations increased even more in September, with 9.5 GWh installed, up 309.3 percent compared with August and 32.3 percent over the same period last year.
