Tesla is yet to confirm when it will reveal its battery news. In the meantime, other battery manufacturers are not wasting any time. In May, SVolt announced an "almost million-mile" battery that came pretty close to offering what patents revealed about Tesla's revolutionary cell. If that were not enough, Tesla would now have to beat what CATL has to offer. The biggest battery manufacturer in the world just told Bloomberg it is ready to sell a 2-million-km (1.24-million-mile), 16-years cell.

The news agency received this information from CATL's chairman and founder, Zeng Yuqun. According to that executive, his company is ready to sell this new battery to any automaker willing to pay 10 percent more than they currently pay for the regular cells.

It is a pity Bloomberg did not try to dive into the details of this new battery technology. The article just mentions Tesla promised something similar, as well as GM. There is no mention these new batteries have anything to do with the technology that will be revealed at the Tesla Battery Day – on the contrary.

As we have mentioned in a previous article, Reuters said CATL and Tesla made a partnership for cobalt-free batteries that would last one million miles. The first part is correct since CATL will supply Tesla with LFP prismatic cells. The second one does not seem very likely because of the battery chemistry and the fact that Tesla wants to produce its cells on its own.

CATL logo

If CATL is willing to sell this new 2-million-km battery to any automaker, it cannot be Tesla's new cell. That was supposed to be something exclusive, which would give Tesla cars an edge in reliability. 

Currently, the most extensive warranty for Tesla's battery packs is 150,000 mi or eight years for the Model S and Model X. In terms of range, CATL's new battery warranty is 8.2 times that of Tesla's. In terms of time, it is twice as much.

Renault-Nissan Turns To China's CATL For Battery Cells

We got in touch with CATL to try to learn more about this new battery tech and to discover more details. Has any automaker already put an order for these new cells? GM? BMW? When will we see it in any car? May CATL get back to us as soon as possible.

Source: Bloomberg

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