PanasonicAnnounceIt will invest $40 billion to build a new battery factory in Kansas, USA, to provide lithium-ion batteries to multiple industries, and will also add up to 4000 new jobs.
Panasonic has not yet announced the actual size of the new battery factory or its future production capacity, but it is likely to become the world's largest battery factory, expected to be larger than Tesla's Gigafactory in Sparks, Nevada.
According to the description, after the completion of the construction of this battery factory, it will be put into production of the new 4680 high-performance batteries required by Tesla. It is expected to be available in early 2024. It is expected to increase the power by 5 times and increase the driving range by 15%, thereby reducing the production cost of electric vehicles and promoting the use of electric vehicles.
Due to the enormous demand for batteries for electric vehicles, Panasonic plans to expand production capacity by building a factory to meet market demand. The decision to build a factory in Kansas will allow it to provide battery components to Tesla's electric vehicle factory in Texas, further maintaining their partnership.
Prior to this, Panasonic had invested 2000 billion yen to help Tesla build the Gigafactory battery factory, but subsequent yield issues caused the battery factory to be in a loss-making state for many years. It was not until the end of March last year that it announced a turnaround.
LG and Samsung have begun cooperating with traditional car manufacturers to build battery factories, and China's CATL has recently been reported to be expanding its factories in the United States, planning to provide ternary lithium batteries and lithium iron phosphate batteries to Tesla and other companies. This has also prompted Panasonic to actively expand the construction of battery factories to avoid being surpassed by competitors.
