I wouldn't write them off. Tesla has a tendency to tie up with multiple suppliers and diversify. Some notable examples of offtakes over recent years include...
Graphite - Syrah, Magnis, South Star, NextSource (via a Chinese partner) etc...
Lithium: Piedmont, Liontown, Core Lithium, Livent, etc.
Interesting that in the market update on
28 Nov 23 they referred to them as a "large company". I guess the question begs how many large companies would be qualifying and testing graphite from Volt given they have 2 large scale graphite deposits. The fact they needed to go and mine another 113 tonnes of graphite to create samples for further testing is telling.
And then in the announcement on
22 Jan 24, they referenced meeting the requirements of "large battery customers". I don't think this is accidental. They're clearly working with a big company and cant say who. Let's hope that their testing program which is scheduled for completion this month, is on track, successful and leads to a commercial offtake agreement & investment.
