Tesla has signed a three-year battery pricing deal with its Japanese supplier, Panasonic Corp, according to Reuters.
The deal was signed last week and kicked into effect on April 1, 2020, according to a filing by Tesla made on Tuesday.
The three-year deal is related to the manufacturing and supply of lithium-ion battery cells at Tesla’s Gigafactory in Nevada. The agreement details “terms for production capacity commitments by Panasonic and purchase volume commitments by Tesla over the first two years of the agreement,” reports Reuters.
Other changes made in the Tuesday filing by Tesla are related to general terms and conditions with Panasonic, specifically setting the term to expire in 2030 after the supplier hits specific manufacturing milestones, according to the Form 8-K filed today.
At one point, Tesla’s batteries came solely from Panasonic, but that has since changed. Panasonic also made solar panels with Tesla at the latter’s factory in Buffalo, New York, but that was terminated by the Japanese company in May, with an exit planned from the factory in September.
In other battery news, earlier today it was reported by Bloomberg Tesla had signed a deal to buy as much as 6,000 tons of cobalt per year from Glencore, the world’s biggest miner of the battery metal. The deal allows Tesla to secure supply for the future, for new Tesla factories in China and Germany, say sources.
