Panasonic weighs building new US battery plant for Tesla.
Panasonic Holdings is considering building a new battery plant in the U.S. to supply electric car maker Tesla, Nikkei has learned.
Panasonic plans to produce a new type of high-capacity battery and aims to start operations as early as fiscal year 2024. Several candidate sites are being considered, including Oklahoma, which is close to Tesla’s new plant in Texas. Panasonic plans to operate the new plant independently.
The location will be decided in consideration of subsidies and other support measures from local governments.
The decision on whether to build the plant will be based on the profitability of the new lithium-ion batteries that Panasonic will produce at its plant in Japan’s Wakayama Prefecture starting in fiscal year 2023.
With the new batteries, Panasonic aims to supply Tesla’s new Cybertruck and other vehicles. Chinese battery maker CATL and other companies are supplying batteries for Tesla’s Model 3, a mass-market vehicle produced at the electric car maker’s plant in China.
Panasonic is looking to strengthen its business for premium models in Europe and the U.S.
Panasonic already jointly operates a battery plant with Tesla in Nevada. The initial production capacity was 35 gigawatt-hours per year, with Panasonic investing approximately 200 billion yen ($1.5 billion).
Additional investments have been made since then, and the current production capacity is approximately 39 gigawatt-hours a year. The new plant could be of a similar scale.
Foreign news media report that Tesla plans to produce 500,000 vehicles a year at the Texas plant. In addition to supplying this plant, Panasonic will consider selling to other EV makers in the future.
Competition is intense among makers of EV batteries. South Korea’s LG Energy Solution and General Motors are investing $2.6 billion to build a battery plant in Lansing, Michigan. CATL is investing up to $6 billion in Indonesia with a local partner.
CATL topped the global EV battery market with a roughly 33% share in 2021, followed by LG Energy at 20%, according to SNE Research of South Korea. Panasonic ranked third with 12%.
Panasonic weighs building new U.S. battery plant for Tesla, Osaka, May 10, 2022
