Tesla has agreed to purchase 45 GWh of lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries from CATL to meet anticipated demand for the Model 3 and Model Y in 2022, according to the Chinese website CnEVPost.
Model 3 and Model Y are currently available with LFP batteries in their standard range configurations, the former with a 55 kWh battery and the latter with a 60 kWh battery. This purchase will provide enough electricity to power approximately 800,000 vehicles. In the first nine months of this year, the company has already sold 627,350 vehicles.
Tesla’s Nevada battery factory will soon ramp up LFP Battery production to over 40 GWh in 2022, and with additional supply from Panasonic and LG Chem, Tesla’s 2022 sales could reach at least 1.5 million units.
LFP battery is rapidly gaining traction as the preferred chemistry for medium- and low-cost electric vehicles. The China Automotive Battery Innovation Alliance released data earlier this month indicating that LFP battery installations in China have continued to grow in the last two months after surpassing ternary batteries for the first time this year in July.
According to the data, China’s installed battery capacity was 15.7 GWh in September, up 138 percent year on year and 25% from August. The volume of LFP battery installations increased in September, with 9.5 GWh installed, up 309 percent year over year and 32 percent compared to August.
Reference- CnEVPost website, Clean Technica, Inside EVs, EV Obsession