Panasonic planning a bigger battery cell factory in the US to meet Tesla demand, report says

Panasonic is reportedly planning to build a large battery cell factory in the United States to supply Tesla, according to a new report from Japan.

Tesla and Panasonic have already built a factory together in the US: the Gigafactory Nevada.

While the feature hasn’t grown to the size the companies had originally planned, it was a large part of Tesla’s growth over the years, and has made Panasonic a major player in the supply of battery cells to the automotive sector. helped to become

Now it looks like both companies are planning to replicate this success on an even bigger scale.

Japan’s NHK reports that Panasonic is currently in the process of buying land to build a “mega-factory” to manufacture battery cells for Tesla in the United States (via Reuters):

Japan’s Panasonic Corp is looking to buy land in the United States for a mega-factory for Tesla Inc. to manufacture a new type of electric vehicle (EV) battery, public broadcaster NHK reported Friday.

The report also said that Panasonic is zeroing in on “Oklahoma or Kansas” for the factory location:

NHK reported that Panasonic is considering building a multi-billion dollar factory in Oklahoma or Kansas, close to Texas, where Tesla is building a new EV plant. NHK did not specify a timeline for Panasonic’s US project.

Panasonic recently confirmed plans to begin production of Tesla’s 4680 battery cells by March 2024, but at a factory in Japan.

If true, these unconfirmed plans would mean a new factory built from the ground up to support Tesla’s rapidly growing production in the United States—particularly in Texas where Tesla began production of the Model Y.

The automaker is currently using the 4680 battery cells the company is making at a pilot production plant in California and the Gigafactory is deploying its battery cell production capacity in Texas.

However, Tesla has made it clear that it will buy any cells it can get from suppliers for the foreseeable future.

Once Cybertruck and Tesla Semi begin production, the company expects exceptional demand for battery cells at Gigafactory Texas, which are vehicle programs that require more battery cells per unit.

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