Tesla Switches All Standard-Range Vehicles to LiFePo Chemistry

upstart writes:

Tesla switches all standard-range vehicles to LiFePo chemistry:

The thing about modern lithium nickel-cobalt-aluminum-oxide battery chemistries as fitted to modern, long-range electric vehicles is that they're expensive. They're expensive because their increased energy density necessitates the use of more rare-earth minerals in their construction. There are other chemistries, though, and one of the more popular ones is called lithium-iron-phosphate or LFP.

In a move to offer reduced-cost Model 3s to the Chinese market, Tesla started offering its base Model 3 with an LFP battery pack. Since LFP chemistry makes for a less energy-dense cell, it provides a lower range but at significantly lower production costs. That move worked so well for Tesla that now, according to its 2021 Q3 shareholder deck (PDF), released Wednesday, it's moving to LFP chemistry for all of its standard-range vehicles around the world.

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