Chinese battery giant extends supply agreement with Tesla

Contemporary Amperex Technology Ltd (CATL), China's leading automotive lithium-ion battery maker, on Monday said it has signed a four-year agreement to supply batteries to Tesla, following the signature of a two-year contract in 2020.

CATL disclosed the agreement, which will be in effect from January 2022 to December 2025, in a stock exchange filing. CATL said the impact of the framework agreement on its future performance is uncertain as the supply volume will be determined by the actual orders later placed by Tesla.

"The agreement signifies further acknowledgment by Tesla of the product quality and production capability of [our company], and will help strengthen the long-term cooperation relationship between the company and Tesla," CATL said.

In February 2020, the two parties signed a non-binding supply agreement effective from July 2020 to June 2022.

The battery giant CATL generated revenue of approximately 50.32 billion yuan (about $7.8 billion) in 2020, up 9.9 percent year on year. Its lithium-ion battery sales in 2020 grew 14.36 percent year on year to a total capacity of 46.84 GWh, according to its annual report filed with the Shenzhen Stock Exchange.

Tesla established its first overseas factory in Shanghai at the beginning of 2020.

According to a statement of China's market regulator on Saturday, Tesla will recall a total of 285,520 China-made or imported Model 3 and Model Y vehicles starting from Saturday due to issues with their cruise control system.

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Source(s): Xinhua News Agency