À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo by AFP Yonhap]
South Korea¡¯s LG Chem shares recovered Tuesday after selloff since it unveiled plan to spin off battery unit upon news that it would remain supplier to Tesla at least until 2022 even after the top U.S. EV brand starts making own battery cells.
¡°We intend to increase, not reduce battery cell purchases from Panasonic, LG & CATL (possibly other partners too),¡± Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on Twitter on Monday (local time), a day before Tesla Battery Day.
¡°Even with our cell suppliers going at maximum speed, we still foresee significant shortages in 2022 & beyond unless we also take action ourselves.¡±
LG Chem shares recovered after losing 5.86 percent a day earlier. It closed Tuesday 1.91 percent higher at 639,000 won ($548.50) in Seoul.
The heads-up comment came ahead of the much-awaited Battery Day that would affect ¡°long-term production, especially for Semi, Cybertruck and Roadster,¡± Musk added.
Details were not commented, but ¡°what we announce will not reach serious high-volume production until 2022,¡± he said.
Tesla shares dropped nearly 6 percent after hours upon Musk¡¯s tweets after closing the previous session 1.64 percent higher on expectations for the Tuesday event for new battery cells and production plans and earnings growth in the third quarter.
À̹ÌÁö È®´ë [Photo provided by LG Chem Ltd.]
The U.S. EV giant has manufactured battery cells at its Gigafactory in Nevada with its partner Panasonic since January 2017 and recently started outsourcing cells from LG Chem and China¡¯s CATL.
The company however has been seeking to bring battery cell manufacturing in house under the Roadrunner Project to have enough batteries to accelerate its mission, transition to sustainable energy.
Markets expect Tesla will make clear how fast it could produce own battery cells using in-house production line at the Battery Day. It also is expected to make public details about the production plan for its million-mile battery under joint development with CATL.
Some expect a change in the company¡¯s battery dependence on current suppliers.
Tesla is estimated to have delivered some-144,000 electric vehicles in the July-September period, according to an average of analysts surveyed by financial data analysis company FactSet.
The company delivered record 112,000 cars in the fourth quarter of last year, and then 88,400 vehicles in the first quarter and 90,650 units in the second quarter. It targets to deliver a total of 500,000 units this year.
By Kim In-oh and Lee Ha-yeon
[¨Ï Pulse by Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]