Until the end of 2020, the battery situation in the Tesla Model 3 was very simple: Panasonic batteries were used in all variants, from standard to long range to performance, both in production in the USA and in China. From the last quarter of the year, however, it became increasingly confusing because CATL and LG Energy Solutions were added as new suppliers. In the meantime Tesla has 36 different battery variants, said CEO Elon Musk in mid-2021, and announced that the new variety would be cut back significantly in the long term. And at least with the Model 3 from China, something is actually being cleaned up.
Tesla Model 3 Performance mit LG-Akku
Close observers had already expected this, because in mid-March a member of the German forum Tesla Drivers and Friends (TFF) published information on a changed type approval in the EU, according to which an internal as 5L designated battery with LG batteries in question. It got loud an overview in the TFF initially used in the Model 3 Long Range from the end of 2021, while the performance variant continued to have Panasonic batteries.
And as the TFF member eivissa also reported this week, the delivery of the first Model 3 Performance with the LG battery in Europe has now been confirmed. This has obviously started the clean-up of batteries announced by CEO Musk. However, it is not clear for the time being whether all electric cars of this type from China will come with the new battery from now on – with earlier changes at Tesla there were sometimes different variants in parallel for a while, which is now referred to as the “battery lottery” in the forum.
The battery changeover in China does not bring extreme changes. However, it should play a role in Tesla’s Range specification for the Model 3 Performance at the end of 2021 at 547 kilometers following WLTP. Because the 5L battery from LG batteries officially has a slightly lower usable capacity at 79 kilowatt hours than that of Panasonic (designated as 3L), for which 82 kilowatt hours are specified.
Panasonic battery faster on the Supercharger
So if you only look at the capacity, the innovation in the Tesla Model 3 Performance for Europe is a deterioration. This interpretation also has some supporters in the TFF, but other members point out that the real values for both battery variants converge following a while (you can check that because the 5L battery also used in the Model Y from China since January becomes). In addition, the LG variant is said to be less temperature-sensitive than the Panasonic and lose less power when the charge level is low. On the other hand, the Panasonic battery seems to have advantages when it comes to the charging capacity of the Supercharger, but here optimists are hoping for a software update soon.