North American automaker Tesla’s battery supplier CATL plans to set up a new 80GWh per year unit in Shanghai. Tesla is also expected to source more than $1bn worth of additional raw material for electric vehicle (EV) batteries.
CATL’s Shanghai location will be close to Tesla’s production base in China, media reports indicated on Thursday. The new facility will add to the company’s existing production capacity of 69.1GWh with the ability to power up nearly 800,000 electric cars.
Robyn Denholm, chairperson, Tesla, noted to the media on Jun 2 that the company already sources three-quarters feedstock of lithium and a third of nickel from Australia. The company’s long-term strategy is to process the raw material into battery parts domestically in the US.