LG Energy supplied over 800 million battery cells to Tesla in 2020

LG Energy Solution supplied over 800 million units of 21700 cylinder battery cells to Tesla last year, TheElec has learned.

The company is expecting to supply over 1 billion units to the US electric car maker this year.

The South Korean battery maker supplies its cells for Model 3 and Model Y. Panasonic, which also suppliers batteries to Tesla, provides its goods for Model S, Model X, Model 3 and Model Y.

Despite LG Energy Solution providing for lesser number of models, its batteries is thought to have accounted for 30% of those used in Tesla’s cars last year.

The expansion comes from solid sales of the Model 3, which was the best selling electric vehicle of 2020.

LG supplied 50 million cells to Tesla in the first quarter of last year, but this surged to 100 million in the second quarter, people familiar with the matter said. This further increased to 200 million around the third quarter.

According to market research firm EV Volumes, Tesla sold 499,550 units of electric cars last year. Out of this total, around 300,000 units were model 3.

For the first quarter of 2021, Model 3 continued to be the top seller with 126,716 units, according to the research firm. Model Y ranked third with 56,064 units.