Chinese battery giant CATL will supply its cutting-edge M3P battery to the American electric vehicle giant Tesla, local publication The Paper reports, citing people familiar with the matter. As of now, the new batteries are still under the development and validation phase.
CATL’s progress in its M3P battery development
According to the report, CATL has already confirmed the deployment of its first M3P batteries to an electric vehicle co-developed by Chery and Huawei.
Based on the description, the said electric vehicle model is highly likely the Luxeed S7 electric sedan. For context, the all-electric sedan delivers 550 km (342 mi) to 855 km (531 mi) of driving range with a starting price of just $35,000.
Potential partnership with Tesla
In response to investor queries on Thursday, CATL revealed its progress with its M3P battery project. According to the Chinese battery giant, it is already seeking additional customers for its new M3P batteries.
Interestingly, one of these prospective customers is Tesla. A potential partnership with the Musk-led company is unsurprising, considering that it is already a major customer of CATL’s lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries.
Tesla uses the LFP batteries from its Chinese partner in the electric vehicles it produces in Gigafactory Shanghai, enabling it to enjoy lower production costs.
Previous speculations have suggested the integration of the CATL-developed M3P batteries into Tesla cars. In early August 2023, LatePost reported that the Musk-led company will use the new battery tech in the popular Tesla Model Y crossover.
After a few weeks, Sina Tech asserted that Tesla would equip the Model 3 e-sedan with the new M3P battery to improve its range by around 10%. However, these reports remain as speculations until today.
What’s special about the M3P battery?
CATL Chief Scientist Wu Kai explained during a battery conference in July 2022 that the innovative M3P battery employs a new material system.
It apparently has higher energy density compared to traditional LFP batteries. In addition, the new M3P battery aims at the market for electric vehicles with more than 700 km (434 miles) of range, CnEVPost reported.
Chief Scientist Kai also announced at the conference that CATL will begin the mass production of the M3P battery in 2023, aligning with the Luxeed S7’s launch last November 28.
