Tesla has confirmed that it has a contract with South Korean firm LG Chem to provide batteries for Roadster 3.0, a package of range-enhancing improvements for Tesla’s famous first vehicle. The company began taking orders for the $29,000 upgrade in September. Until this announcement, Tesla’s only known battery supplier was Panasonic, which is a partner… Read more »
A recent report that Tesla is aiming to acquire a stake in LG’s soon-to-be-separate battery business sent shares in the Korean electronics giant soaring. However, it appears to be too early to tell if and how such an acquisition will take place. LG Chem announced in mid-September that it plans to spin off its battery… Read more »
In the first quarter of 2020, EV battery suppliers deployed 20.5 GWh of capacity globally, down from 26.5 GWh in the fourth quarter, and 20.9 GWh during the first quarter of 2019, according to data from Adamas Intelligence’s EV Battery Capacity and Battery Metals Tracker. After losing the top spot to LG Chem in January… Read more »
Recently, Tesla has indicated that it plans to diversify its battery supply for the Asian market, moving away from its near-total reliance on Panasonic. Now Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), China’s largest EV battery-maker, has confirmed the signing of a two-year supplier agreement with Tesla. The agreement does not specify the volume of cells to be… Read more »
General Motors and LG Chem have announced plans to establish a battery cell assembly plant on a greenfield site in the Lordstown area of Northeast Ohio. The companies will invest up to $2.3 billion in the facility through a new joint venture. The new factory will eventually provide batteries for GM’s electric pickup truck, expected… Read more »
One of China’s top producers of lithium has agreed to supply a fifth of its lithium hydroxide production to Tesla’s battery suppliers. The agreement with Jiangxi-based Ganfeng Lithium runs from 2018 to 2020, and could be extended by three years. EV-makers have been scrambling to secure supplies of lithium for the past couple of years…. Read more »
As Tesla soars and the legacy automakers waffle, a classic disruption scenario, unthinkable only a couple of years ago, seems ever more likely. The latest to reach this conclusion is analyst Alexander Haissl of Hamburg’s Berenberg Bank, who predicts in a recent report that Tesla will end up with a near-monopoly of the EV market…. Read more »
Japanese giant Panasonic is currently Tesla’s exclusive battery partner, but as its battery needs balloon along with demand for the upcoming Model 3, it’s only logical that the California company should keep its options open with other suppliers. The Korea Times reported that Tesla has approached LG Chem, Samsung SDI and SK Innovation. Tesla executives… Read more »
GM has honored Li-ion battery maker LG Chem by naming it a GM Supplier of the Year at an awards ceremony in Detroit. LG Chem was one of only 110 of GM’s suppliers to receive this exclusive award, which it has now won for six consecutive years. There’s no question that LG Chem is an… Read more »
Japanese giant Panasonic is by far the largest automotive batter supplier at the moment, with a 39% market share. According to a new report from Lux Research, it will probably hang onto that position, increasing its share to 51% as EV batteries grow to a $30-billion market by 2020. However, there’s a real possibility that… Read more »