China’s biggest EV maker BYD has delivered its blade battery to Tesla’s factory in Berlin, German-made Model Y will be Tesla’s first model to equip with the battery starting from next month.
The news confirmed the statement made by Lian Yubo, executive vice president and president of BYD’s automotive engineering research institute, who was asked if he sees Tesla as competition.
Lian answered “Tesla is a very successful company no matter what, BYD respects Tesla and we admire Tesla. We are good friends with Elon Musk, and we will soon supply him with batteries.”
BYD introduced its blade battery cell using LFP chemistry in 2020.
However, Tesla’s Berlin Gigafactory is the only one that will use BYD’s blade batteries. Tesla Shanghai Gigafactory has no plan to use BYD’s blade batteries for its China-made model 3 and model Y.
The batteries of Shanghai-made model 3 and model Y are mainly supplied by CATL, who began supplying lithium batteries to Tesla since February 2020. CATL provides about 70% of the batteries that are used in the domestic made model 3 and model Y, while LG Energy Solution provides the remaining 30%.
CATL renewed a partnership agreement with Tesla in June last year, under which CATL will provide battery packs for Model 3 sedans and Model Y sport-utility vehicle made in Shanghai Giga factory until December 2025.