Tesla has a new supplier of battery cells. Although the automaker is integrated vertically in a degree that is not seen in the car industry for decades, it usually depends on suppliers. Panasonic cells can be found in many Teslas, where the cheaper, firmer lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells are supplied by Catl. Now Tesla has a new source of LFP cells thanks to a deal that has just been signed with LG Energy Solutions.
According to the Korea Economic Daily, the contract between Tesla and Lges is worth $ 4.3 billion. LGEs will start Tesla with cells next August until at least the end of July 2030, with provisions to extend the contract if necessary.
However, the LFP cells are probably not intended for life on the road. Instead, they will probably be used in Tesla's energy storage products, which both Tesla and LGEs hope that they will absorb the question now that the sales perspectives of EV in Noord -America will look so weak.
The deal also reduces the dependence on Tesla of Chinese suppliers. LGEs will produce the LFP cells in his factory in Michigan, says Reuters, and so they will not be subject to the Trump Trade War rates, in contrast to Chinese cells made of Catl.
Although Tesla CEO Elon Musk has talked about the size of the energy storage market, the contribution to the financial data of Tesla thin and they actually shrunk in the last quarter.
