Tesla has made a move away from the dominant EV battery technology, asking the Chinese government for approval to start manufacturing Tesla Model 3 featuring a lithium iron phosphate batteries, Reuters reports , citing a document published on the website of the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, batteries contain no cobalt—one of the more expensive components of EV batteries and the object of ethical mining controversies since most of the world’s supply of cobalt is concentrated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where child labor is rife. The new batteries for the Model 3 will likely be produced by CATL, a Chinese battery and technology company, and the biggest EV battery maker globally. CATL sealed a deal with Tesla to supply it with batteries in February, for a two-year period beginning in July this year. Soon after, CATL, which also supplies […]