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Since it was reported last year that Tesla will cooperate with Ningde Times, to finally confirm the use of the power battery provided by the latter, news about the continued price reduction of Tesla models followed. Tesla is ready to start selling a "cobalt-free" version of Model 3 electric car, which will be announced as early as Thursday, and the price of Tesla's official website Model 3 has been adjusted to less than 250000 soon, according to two more people familiar with the matter.

Tesla's "cobalt-free battery" version of the Model 3 electric car, produced by Tesla's Shanghai factory, will be equipped with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, according to two sources. At present, the Model 3 electric vehicles produced by the Shanghai factory in China use nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries. Because of this, new car prices will also change, two sources said, the change Tesla will be announced as early as Thursday.

Not surprisingly, according to Tesla's Chinese official website today, the price of the standard battery life upgrade version of Model 3 made in China has been adjusted to 249900 yuan after subsidies, compared with the price of 271550 yuan before the adjustment, a reduction of 21650 yuan.

As we all know, since there were frequent reports of cooperation between Tesla and Chinese battery giant Ningde era last year, the two sides issued announcements in February confirming the cooperation agreement that Ningde Times will supply Tesla with power battery products, which will begin in July. Supply starts in July this year, and the agreement is valid from July 1, 2020 to June 30, 2022.

Compared with nickel-cobalt-aluminum battery or nickel-manganese-cobalt battery, lithium iron phosphate battery has better safety, lower loss, excellent service life and price advantage, but its energy density is not as good as the former. It is understood that in order to improve the density and safety of lithium iron phosphate batteries, Ningde era has been studying the so-called battery packaging technology, which effectively increases the volume utilization efficiency of the battery package and greatly reduces the assembly cost.

And according to the 333rd batch of the latest vehicle "announcement" of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the relevant information about the domestic Tesla Model 3 lithium iron phosphate version has been confirmed. The appearance of the car has not changed much, and unlike the standard and long-lasting versions that have been listed at present, it is equipped with lithium phosphate batteries.

Due to the adjustment of the subsidy policy, Tesla has previously reduced the price to within the scope of the subsidy, with a starting price of 271550 yuan after deducting government subsidies. The replacement of lithium iron phosphate battery models may be due to lower costs, the price of the whole car will be explored, after all, the new car is equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries provided by the domestic supplier Ningde era.

In fact, since it was reported that Tesla was carrying a "cobalt-free battery" version of the Model 3 model, the news of its price reduction also appeared frequently, and it was generally believed that the price was around 250000, or even reached 230000 yuan, but it was clarified by Tesla. Now, with the gradual increase of Tesla's national production rate, price reduction has become a matter of course.

Of course, Tesla Model 3 has adjusted its price many times since it entered China, and the last price adjustment was on May 1 this year. At that time, the price of the standard battery life upgrade version of Model 3 made in China was reduced from 323800 yuan to 291800 yuan before the subsidy, and the final purchase price of the standard battery life upgrade version of Model 3 made in China was reduced to 271550 yuan after enjoying the subsidy of 20250 new energy vehicles.

Even though many price adjustments have been protected by many car owners, this has been Tesla's "open secret", so that the price adjustment of Tesla Model 3 may continue to be performed in the eyes of netizens.

As the best-selling new energy model in China and even in the world, Model 3 is the best electric model sold at present, regardless of its price. Data show that Tesla has sold a total of 11000 electric vehicles in China, the world's largest auto market, the vast majority of which are Model 3. In addition, Tesla is expanding the Shanghai super factory and is ready to start production of the Model Y SUV, which is expected to start delivery in early 2021, which will further boost Tesla's sales.

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