Tesla·China BYD 'Battery Honeymoon' Over?..."Groundless"

American electric vehicle company Tesla and Chinese battery maker BYD have both denied reports that Tesla decided not to use BYD's batteries amid quality concerns.

Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, stated on Twitter on the 14th (local time), "The media reports that the contract between Tesla and BYD has ended are false," adding, "The relationship between Tesla and BYD is amicable." He made this comment in reply to a Twitter user who posted the article.

BYD also responded in a statement sent to U.S. media, saying the report "does not correspond to reality."

On the 12th, some Korean media outlets reported that Tesla would not renew its contract with BYD, citing quality issues following a series of battery fire incidents. The reports claimed that as BYD's electric vehicles equipped with its own batteries continued to catch fire in China, quality problems arose, ultimately ending the cooperation between the two companies.

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

Tesla began sourcing batteries from BYD last year for some low-cost electric vehicle models intended for the European market. BYD, a battery manufacturer and China's largest electric vehicle company, holds the number one market share in China's EV market and is also a competitor to Tesla.

However, Lian Yubo, BYD's Vice Chairman, praised Tesla when announcing in June last year that BYD would supply batteries to Tesla for the first time, saying, "Tesla is a very successful company, and BYD respects Tesla. Tesla is a model that BYD should learn from."

The main companies supplying batteries to Tesla include China's CATL, South Korea's LG Energy Solution, and Japan's Panasonic.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.