AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/10 Report--

The auto industry has learned from Tesla's Chinese website that the prices of its Model 3 and Model Y models have risen again. Among them, the price of Model 3 all-wheel drive high-performance version rose from 339900 yuan to 349900 yuan, Model Y all-wheel drive version increased from 347900 yuan to 357900 yuan, and Model Y all-wheel drive high-performance version rose from 387900 yuan to 397,900 yuan.

It is worth mentioning that, in addition to domestic price increases, Tesla also raised prices in the local market. According to Tesla's US website, the price of the long-range version of Model Y has increased by $1000 to $59990, and the price of the high-performance version of Model Y has increased by $1000 to $64990.

Due to the decline of subsidies for new energy vehicles, the prices of Model 3 and Model Y models rose one after another on December 31, 2021. The price of the rear wheel drive version of Model 3 was adjusted to 265652 yuan, up 10,000 yuan from the previous one. The price of the rear wheel drive version of Model Y was adjusted to 301840 yuan, an increase of 21088 yuan. After this price increase, the price of Model Y rear wheel drive version has reached more than 300000 yuan, which means that the whole series of Model Y will no longer enjoy new energy vehicle subsidies.

As Tesla adopts a direct sales model, its vehicle price adjustment reflects the actual situation of cost fluctuations, and this time Tesla raised the prices of Model 3 and Model Y again, largely due to the rising prices of spare parts and raw materials for power batteries. It is understood that the current Model 3 rear wheel drive version uses the Ningde era of lithium iron phosphate battery, this kind of battery does not need much nickel or cobalt, while Model 3 high-performance version and Model Y system uses LG chemical ternary lithium battery, which contains elements such as lithium, nickel, cobalt and manganese, which is also the reason why the Model 3 rear wheel drive version does not increase in price.

It is well known that lithium-ion batteries have a total of three layers, in which the lithium cathode is made of lithium mixed with nickel and other minerals such as cobalt, manganese or aluminum, and the anode is made of carbon, graphite and silicon. In recent years, some automakers have found that adding more nickel to the cathode can increase the energy density of the battery and the range of the battery of the same quality, while the ternary lithium battery supplied by LG Chemistry to Tesla contains up to 90 per cent nickel.

The price of nickel has soared recently. LME nickel closed 76 per cent higher at $50905 a tonne in the early morning of March 8, the highest level since June 2007. Due to the sharp rise in nickel prices, the London Metal Exchange (LME) announced that trading in nickel contracts at all locations on the exchange's market would be suspended from 08:15 local time on the 8th. Affected by the sharp rise in LME nickel, domestic futures closed mixed on March 9, with Shanghai Nickel continuing to close at 267700 yuan / ton, up 17%, setting a new record. Data show that Shanghai Nickel has risen 43.01% in the last three trading days. On the evening of March 9, the Shanghai Futures Exchange issued a notice on suspending trading in some nickel futures contracts for one day.

The price of nickel soars sharply, which has a great impact on new energy vehicles equipped with ternary lithium batteries, but has little impact on domestic sales of new energy vehicles. Take Tesla as an example, due to the high capacity of nickel in ternary lithium batteries, the increase in the cost of ternary lithium batteries directly affects Tesla's terminal price in the context of skyrocketing nickel prices. however, at present, most mainstream new energy vehicles are equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries, which do not need nickel or cobalt, so the rise of nickel has little impact on vehicles equipped with lithium iron phosphate batteries. In addition, will Tesla's price rise affect sales? The answer is yes, but it has little impact. According to Tesla's official website, the delivery time of the full range of Model 3 and Model Y long-lasting versions is expected to be 16-20 weeks, and the longest delivery time of Model Y rear wheel drive version and high-performance version is 14 weeks and 16 weeks respectively. From this calculation, if you buy Tesla Model 3 now, you will not be able to pick up the car until at least after June.

According to the latest data, Tesla sold 56515 vehicles wholesale in China in February 2022, including 33315 for export and 23200 for domestic retail, including 18593 for Model Y and 4607 for Model 3.

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