(Yicai Global) Oct. 29 -- Shares in Contemporary Amperex Technology hit a new high today after the Chinese electric car battery giant said that US new energy vehicle startup Tesla has agreed to buy 45 gigawatt hours of batteries for use in its Model 3 and Model Y vehicles, online tech media 36Kr reported today, citing people familiar with this matter.

CATL’s share price [SHE:300750] closed up 5.27 percent at CNY639.22 (USD100). Earlier in the day it had reached a record CNY645.49.

Forty-five GWh of batteries is enough to supply 800,000 standard range vehicles. The Palo Alto-based carmaker only sold 630,000 units worldwide in the first three quarters, but it is rapidly expanding capacity and is aiming for sales of 1.5 million units next year, the report said.

The Model 3s and Model Ys manufactured at Tesla’s Shanghai Gigafactory all use lithium iron phosphate batteries, which have the advantages of high energy density, long life cycle and good safety performance. The batteries also started to become available in the US from August.

The standard range of Model 3s with lithium iron phosphate batteries is around 400 kilometers, down from 423 km with conventional lithium-ion batteries, but the price remains unchanged at USD3,999.

Editor: Kim Taylor