Along with Chinas' No. 1 and No. 2 electric vehicle startups XPeng and NIO, Tesla has been seen trying to reduce CATL battery use and or change its supply to another battery company.
On the 15th, sources from various Chinese media such as CNEVPOST state that BYD, the second-largest battery manufacturer in China, recently received an order from Tesla of 204,000 battery orders per year.
Just until recently,Tesla only utilized CATL's lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries for its mid- to low-priced trim of Model 3. But it seems that they will add BYD as a supplier to diversify battery supply lines. As sales of electric vehicles in China continue to increase, it is predicted that Tesla will use the products of BYD with CATL. So far, no confirmation or denial has been heard from both BYD or Tesla.
Before this,there were reports that China's leading electric vehicle startup companyXPengwas negotiating with Chinese battery companies,CALB and Sunwoda, to transfer their battery supply line from CATL. Aside from that, reports also say that NIO, which hasbeen using only CATL batteries so far, recently started negotiating with BYD for their battery supply.
As the battery technology of Chinese companieshave been standardized, the position of CATL is threatened. Furthermore,as leading Chinese electric vehicle companies have beenflocking to CATL for their battery supplies before, the trends show diversifying of supply lines for a more stable supply and demand.
An official from the battery industry mentioned, "The fact that automobile manufacturers in China are starting to adopt batteries from different companies in order to reduce theirdependence on CATL is in linewith the fact that domestic battery companies are trying to advance to the overseas market through automobile manufacturer.”
By Staff Reporter Tae-jun Park (gaius@etnews.com)