Tesla is rumored to have secured giant order of 45 GWh of lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells from CATL.<\/p>\n
It comes as Tesla announced its global move to LFP for standard range cars.<\/p>\n
\n\t\t<\/p>\n Over the last year, CEO Elon Musk has said multiple times that\u00a0Tesla plans to shift more electric cars to LFP batteries in order to overcome nickel supply concerns<\/a>.<\/p>\n Iron phosphate (LFP) batteries are traditionally cheaper and safer, but they offer less energy density, which means less efficient and shorter range for electric vehicles.<\/p>\n However, they have improved enough recently that it now makes sense to use the cobalt-free batteries in lower-end and shorter-range vehicles.<\/p>\n It also frees up the production of battery cells with other more energy-densed chemistries to produce more longer-range vehicles.<\/p>\n Tesla already moved its Standard Range Model 3 and Model Y produced in China to LFP cells.<\/p>\n Last week, Tesla also announced it is \u201cshifting to Lithium Iron Phosphate (LFP) battery chemistry globally\u201d for \u201cstandard range vehicles\u201d<\/a>.<\/p>\n It would mean that the automaker plans to switch the Model 3 Standard Range Plus being produced in Fremont factory to LFP cells too.<\/p>\n