Standard Tesla Model Y and Model 3 range may increase 20% with a new LFP battery by LG

As a battery manufacturer that falls within the raw material and component sourcing requirements for receiving federal EV subsidies, LG is a good solution for Tesla as a supplier so any battery improvements it develops are likely to benefit Tesla as well. It currently provides 2170 batteries for its performance electric vehicles as well as looks to build or expand battery factories on US soil in order to allow its clients to qualify for the full federal subsidy amount of US$7,500 per new electric vehicle, in addition to the incentives per kWh built and assembled in the US that Tesla will also be after with a new Giga Nevada factory expansion, but for 4680 cells.

Korean media is reporting that, besides 4680-style cells, LG may be branching out in the lithium ferrophosphate (LFP) battery technology of the type that Tesla uses for its standard range Model 3 and Model Y electric vehicles. The iron phosphate batteries use cheaper and more abundant metals as raw materials, which are on top of that less volatile in a chemical composition and make the LFP packs much safer than the ones requiring nickel and cobalt. LG is reportedly going to launch its LFP cells for energy storage solutions this summer, while in the future it would offer them with 20% higher energy density than what CATL's Tesla Model 3 or Model Y batteries now have.

This would negate some of the disadvantages of LFP batteries compared to the ones with nickel and cobalt that Tesla uses in its longer range or performance electric cars, namely the shorter range on a charge. A RWD Tesla Model 3 with the improved LG LFP battery, for instance, would have a range almost akin to the 356-mile one of the Model 3 LR AWD with the same battery footprint.

LG's LFP battery with 20% higher energy density has shown the results in lab settings, though, and it is more expensive to produce than CATL's current cells, so it would take some time for it to reach the mass production stage. In the meantime, the world's largest EV battery maker won't be sitting still as CATL is already shipping its M3P iron phosphate batteries with 15% higher energy density to manufacturers. They are not made in the US, though, and that would reflect on the Inflation Reduction Act's subsidy eligibility for vehicles built with these cells.

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