Image: Tesla

Tesla will reportedly not be using BYD batteries to produce its affordable models as the contract has already expired. Information about the intention of the Texas manufacturer to use the batteries of the Chinese company was initially filled with a lot of rumors and speculation.

Tesla will no longer use BYD batteries to manufacture its affordable models, Korea Economic Daily reported, citing unnamed people. This became known after Tesla's contract for the supply of batteries expired at the beginning of this year and the company did not request repeated deliveries. It was reported that they could have been used to produce the Model 3 Standard.

Information about the supply of BYD batteries to Tesla was initially filled with many rumors and speculations, and it is still unknown whether they were reliable. In August 2021, it became known that a CLS.cn reporter had learned from a number of people familiar with the matter that BYD is going to supply Tesla with “blade” batteries in Q2 2022. In addition, sources said that Tesla car models that will be equipped with these batteries have already entered the C-sample testing phase. Days later, BYD denied rumors that it was supplying “blade” batteries to Tesla, claiming the company never told the media it would do so.

During the Q3 2021 Earnings Call, Tesla announced that it will use iron-based batteries for its standard Model 3 and Model Y models in all markets worldwide. This confirmed the earlier statements of Elon Musk, and finally outlined the direction of the company in this regard. In connection with Tesla's announcement, information appeared in October 2021 that the company will buy LFP batteries from BYD. The source of Chinese media, CLS.cn, said that an American manufacturer had signed a deal to supply 10 GWh of LFP batteries. “The information I received is that BYD has already received a Tesla order for 10 GWh,” said an aforementioned industry source close to BYD.

In June 2022, according to Bloomberg, a BYD executive told the Chinese state media that the company is ready to begin shipping Tesla batteries. “We are good friends with Elon Musk and we are preparing to supply batteries to Tesla,” BYD’s executive vice president Lian Yu-bo said in a short video clip with state television broadcaster, CGTN. However, since then, no other information about the cooperation between the two companies has been reported.

© 2023, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

_____________________________

We appreciate your readership! Please share your thoughts in the comment section below. 

Article edited by @SmokeyShorts; follow him on Twitter

Follow @EvaFoxU