Tesla enters pricing agreement with Panasonic for battery supply

U.S. electric-car maker Tesla Inc. on Jan. 4 said it entered into a pricing agreement with Panasonic Corp.'s North American unit for the supply of lithium-ion battery cells made in Japan.

The agreement is effective from Oct. 1, 2020, to March 31, 2022. The companies did not disclose pricing details.

Panasonic will start making prototypes of a new, cheaper type of battery for Tesla as early as 2021, according to a Nikkei Asia report Dec. 26, 2020.

In 2020, Tesla delivered 499,550 vehicles, narrowly missing its guidance of 500,000 vehicles.