Tesla reportedly reaches out to Asian suppliers amid battery crunch
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Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) is contacting Chinese and Korean material suppliers to shore up battery supply and lower costs, per reports on Friday.

Citing people familiar with the outreach, Reuters reports that Tesla has contacted China's Ningbo Ronbay New Energy and Suzhou Dongshan Precision Manufacturing to reduce materials costs while stepping up production of 4680 battery cells in the United States. The report indicates the automaker has also signed a deal with Korea's L&F to supply high-nickel cathodes in order to increase the energy density of its 4680 cells. 

The automaker intends to count on Korea's LG Energy Solution and Japan's Panasonic (OTCPK:PCRFY) for additional battery supplies. The sources contacted by Reuters indicated the two suppliers will act as an insurance policy for in-house battery production. The reliance is key for future increased EV production, especially as Cybertruck production ramps, according to the sources. 

Panasonic aims to begin volume production of 4680 batteries by March 2024. LG aims to open a new 4680 production line by the close of 2023.
Read more on the details of the planned production of the Cybertruck