Tesla is reportedly in the process of validating CATL’s lithium-manganese-iron-phosphate (LMFP) cells for future use in its budget and standard range vehicles, following their use by Chinese electric vehicle (EV) producer Chery, which was also one of the first companies to announce its use of sodium ion cells. This is another step in the process for Tesla to make the shift away from using lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) in favor of LMFP’s higher effective energy density. The addition of manganese gives LMFP a higher voltage potential of 3.7V, up from LFP’s 3.2V, resulting in an effective energy density and mileage increase of around 15-20%. While adding manganese adds some cost and complexity, it doesn’t materialize significantly due to the increased energy density,…