Tesla Club Sweden

Tesla is expected to be first to use LG’s new NCMA nickel-based battery cells.

Tesla is expected to become the first automaker to use LG Energy Solution’s new NCMA battery cells, which have a 90% nickel composition.

LG Chem will supply NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum) cathode materials for electric vehicle batteries to Tesla in July. This marks the company’s first commercial production of NCMA cathode materials.

Later, we also reported that LG Chem announced that it will produce a new battery cell with exactly the same specs as Tesla’s newly announced 4680 cell.

The Korean battery manufacturer also confirmed a plan to more than double battery production in China to support demand for Tesla‘s Model Y production at Gigafactory Shanghai.

Currently, LG Chem supplies NCM 811 battery cells to Tesla in China, but starting next month, there will be a change to the NCMA chemistry. The Tesla Model Y MIC (Made in China) is set to become the first production electric car to get a NCMA battery.



Previously, it was expected that GM would be the first automaker to use the NCMA chemistry from LG Chem, with the introduction of its Ultium batteries.

The 2022 GMC HUMMER EV Edition 1 will debut GM’s all-new 800 V Ultium battery architecture capable of 350 kW charging and arrive later this year.

GM says that with its Ultium battery made with NCMA cells, the kWh cost at the cell level will be below 100 USD (82 euros).



Compared to other high nickel content chemistries, NCMA battery cells are more durable, safer and charge faster, but energy density shouldn’t be much different.