Tesla wins China approval to build Model 3 vehicles with LFP batteries: ministry

BEIJING (Reuters) – Tesla Inc has received government approval to build Model 3 vehicles in China equipped with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, a document on Ministry of Industry and Information Technology website showed.

Reuters exclusively reported in February that Tesla was in advanced talks to use LFP batteries from CATL <300750.SZ> that contain no cobalt – one of the most expensive metals in electric vehicle (EV) batteries – in cars made at its plant in China.

The document does not provide the name of the battery maker. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

(Reporting by Yilei Sun and Brenda Goh; editing by Jason Neely)