Tesla Motors Inc might get batteries for its energy unit from Samsung SDI Co, Tesla Motors chief executive officer Elon Musk said on Twitter.
After reports emerged over the past week that Samsung’s batteries might supply Tesla’s electric vehicles, Musk tweeted that Panasonic Corp, a longtime investor in the youngest publicly held US automaker, would be the exclusive provider of batteries for the upcoming Model 3 small car, as it is for the Model S large sedan and Model X sport utility vehicle.
Asked on Wednesday if Samsung might supply Tesla Energy, Musk replied: “Yes.”
Samsung SDI shares rose as much as 4.1 percent to 113,500 won in Seoul following the report. Panasonic shares, which had climbed in the past two days, declined 2.7 percent yesterday.
Tesla Energy is the business unit that provides stationary batteries for homes, known as the Powerwall, and for businesses and utilities, known as the Powerpack. In the first quarter, it delivered more than 2,500 Powerwalls and almost 100 Powerpacks in North America, Asia, Europe and Africa, Tesla said last month.
Tesla and Panasonic have a strong partnership. The Japanese electronics maker invested US$30 million in Tesla in 2010 — now worth more than US$300 million — and the two companies have a supply agreement for 1.8 billion cells through next year, for both the Model S and the Model X.
For the Model 3 — a more affordable electric car that promises a range of at least 346km per charge and start at US$35,000 — the companies are jointly developing a new, slightly larger cylindrical battery cell than those used in the S and X.
Taiwanese suppliers to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC, 台積電) are expected to follow the contract chipmaker’s step to invest in the US, but their relocation may be seven to eight years away, Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) said yesterday. When asked by opposition Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Niu Hsu-ting (牛煦庭) in the legislature about growing concerns that TSMC’s huge investments in the US will prompt its suppliers to follow suit, Kuo said based on the chipmaker’s current limited production volume, it is unlikely to lead its supply chain to go there for now. “Unless TSMC completes its planned six
Intel Corp has named Tasha Chuang (莊蓓瑜) to lead Intel Taiwan in a bid to reinforce relations between the company and its Taiwanese partners. The appointment of Chuang as general manager for Intel Taiwan takes effect on Thursday, the firm said in a statement yesterday. Chuang is to lead her team in Taiwan to pursue product development and sales growth in an effort to reinforce the company’s ties with its partners and clients, Intel said. Chuang was previously in charge of managing Intel’s ties with leading Taiwanese PC brand Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), which included helping Asustek strengthen its global businesses, the company
Power supply and electronic components maker Delta Electronics Inc (台達電) yesterday said second-quarter revenue is expected to surpass the first quarter, which rose 30 percent year-on-year to NT$118.92 billion (US$3.71 billion). Revenue this quarter is likely to grow, as US clients have front-loaded orders ahead of US President Donald Trump’s planned tariffs on Taiwanese goods, Delta chairman Ping Cheng (鄭平) said at an earnings conference in Taipei, referring to the 90-day pause in tariff implementation Trump announced on April 9. While situations in the third and fourth quarters remain unclear, “We will not halt our long-term deployments and do not plan to
The New Taiwan dollar and Taiwanese stocks surged on signs that trade tensions between the world’s top two economies might start easing and as US tech earnings boosted the outlook of the nation’s semiconductor exports. The NT dollar strengthened as much as 3.8 percent versus the US dollar to 30.815, the biggest intraday gain since January 2011, closing at NT$31.064. The benchmark TAIEX jumped 2.73 percent to outperform the region’s equity gauges. Outlook for global trade improved after China said it is assessing possible trade talks with the US, providing a boost for the nation’s currency and shares. As the NT dollar
RSS