On March 14, the Korean Economic Daily quoted related news that after the expiration of the supply agreement between Tesla and BYD earlier this year, Tesla did not ask BYD to continue to supply blade LFP batteries for the Tesla Model 3 standard version.
BYD Blade Lifepo4 Batteries
Korea Economic Daily analyzed that there may be three reasons why the cooperation between Tesla and BYD stopped:
- Subsidy policies related to electric vehicles in the United States
- BYD’s electric car is in direct competition with Tesla
- Possible quality problem with the BYD blade batteries
Report Speciously
As early as August 2021, there was news that BYD would supply blade batteries to Tesla. Then, in June 2022, a BYD person said in an interview with CCTV, “BYD respects Tesla and is also a good friend with (Tesla CEO) Musk, and will soon be preparing to supply batteries to Tesla.”
In August 2022, there were media reports that BYD’s blade batteries had already appeared at Tesla’s Berlin factory in Germany. The German-made Model Y confirmed that it would be equipped with BYD’s blade batteries, and this new Model Y has passed the EU certification. According to the certification document issued by the Ministry of Transport of the Netherlands, the new car is certified as Type 005 and will be equipped with BYD’s 55-Kwh battery pack with a cruising range of 440 kilometers.
Inflation Reduction Act
It is worth noting that Tesla’s plan to produce batteries in the German state of Brandenburg has also been temporarily put on hold. In February of this year, the German Ministry of Economy of Brandenburg stated that Tesla Motors had suspended its plan to produce complete batteries in Brandenburg, Germany, and instead placed some production links in the United States, which has more tax benefits.
Previously, Tesla planned to build an annual production capacity of 50GWh power batteries in the German factory. However, with the introduction of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. provided electric vehicle manufacturers with tax incentives and consumer discounts for purchasing batteries in the U.S., and Tesla therefore changed some of its original plans.
Whether the emergence of the “Inflation Reduction Act” policy will also affect Tesla’s production of electric vehicles in Germany and changes in BYD’s battery purchase order cannot be confirmed.
However, in response to the rumor that “Tesla stopped cooperating with BYD batteries”, BYD responded to the media saying, “The information is false and does not match the actual situation.”
However, BYD did not further explain the relevant information. Musk responded that the relationship with BYD is positive.
