Tesla’s Musk sees no immediate boost from ‘Battery Day’ event
SEOUL: Tesla Inc posted fresh job ads for roles based in Singapore, signalling Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle (EV) maker is preparing to set up shop in the wealthy city-state it has so far skirted.
The car manufacturer is looking for senior developers in Singapore, according to job postings on Linkedin, which didn’t disclose how many people are sought.
In July, Tesla began advertising for positions such as store leader and sales advisers in the city.
A Tesla representative in Beijing declined to comment.
Musk has previously criticised Singapore for not being supportive of electric vehicles, and Tesla hasn’t got any showrooms in the city whose premium-car market is dominated by brands such as BMW AG and Daimler AG’S Mercedes-benz.
The California-based company has been quick to expand in other major Asia-pacific metropolitan markets, including Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo and Taipei.
Singapore said this year it plans to phase out fossil fuel-powered vehicles by 2040, planning to add incentives to encourage consumers to buy electric cars. The island state has been relatively slow to adopt EVS and Musk said on Twitter in January 2019 that the government was unwelcoming.
Tesla plans to ship cars made at its new Shanghai factory to other countries in Asia, including Singapore, sources said this month.
Shipments could start as soon as the end of this year or early 2021, according to the sources.
Separately, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said improvements to be unveiled at the electric-vehicle maker’s “Battery Day” event would not reach “serious high-volume production” until 2022, knocking its shares down.
Analysts were expecting Musk to unveil at the event plans for Tesla to produce its own battery cell as it seeks to cement its lead over General Motors, Volkswagen and others. But in a post on Twitter ahead of the yesterday’s event,
Musk said: “This affects long-term production, especially Semi, Cybertruck & Roadster, but what we announce will not reach serious high-volume production until 2022.”
Tesla expects significant shortages in 2022 and beyond, Musk cautioned, adding it intended to increase cell purchases from Panasonic, South Korea’s LG Chem, China’s CATL, and possibly other partners.
LG Chem and CATL shares rose after the comments.
But Tesla shares fell more than 5% to US$425.50 in extended trade as the tweets cast doubt on whether Tesla would be able to produce its own batteries any time soon – a concern echoed by experts and industry officials.
“Battery firms believe it is not easy to mass produce batteries. It took them a lot of time ... how can Tesla do it overnight?” a South Korean battery industry source told Reuters.
Tesla is working to produce new, bigger battery cells at its Fremont facility, sources told Reuters. The new cells will have a diameter of 42mm, versus the 21mm ones made at its joint battery factory with Panasonic that are used in Model 3 sedans, the sources said.
Tesla may have to partner with Panasonic to mass-produce its own cells, Seoul-based battery expert Park Chul-wan said.
The new batteries could boost energy capacity, cut costs and enable faster charging, helping Tesla cars better compete with gasoline ones, Park said.
Some battery industry officials are wary that Tesla’s move to produce batteries in-house could put pressure on prices.
“Tesla is sending signals to suppliers that they should further lower costs, and if not, Tesla would source more batteries in-house,” a former LG Chem official said.
At the event, Tesla may also unveil its “million mile” batteries, which it is developing with CATL and are expected to have much longer life: the equivalent of 1.6 million km or more, versus about 800km now. — Reuters