Per some earlier reports, Tesla was in talks with EVE Energy about including it in the Shanghai Gigafactory supply chain.
Reuters reported on Friday that Tesla is in talks with EVE Energy about including it in the supply chain of its Shanghai plant in order to increase its procurement of low-cost batteries.
The two were looking to finalize the partnership in the third quarter of 2021, the report said, adding that EVE Energy is in some final stages of testing for Tesla's products.
Later, Shenzhen-listed EVE Energy said in an announcement that it had noticed the widely circulated reports and that, as of the date of the announcement, the company has not done business communication with Tesla on the supply of lithium iron phosphate batteries.
EVE Energy primarily produces lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are cheaper to produce because they use iron instead of the more expensive nickel and cobalt. But LFP batteries typically offer shorter charge times than the more popular nickel-cobalt batteries.
EVE Energy might become Tesla's second LFP battery supplier, after CATL. In April 2021, CATL's installed power battery volume was 3.82 GWh, with a market share of 45.5%. This is the first time in 2021 CATL's market share was below 50%, a new low since July 2020.
EVE Energy's power cell installed base in April was 0.22 GWh, with a 2.6% market share.
This article was first published by Phate Zhang on CnEVPost, a website focusing on new energy vehicle news from China.