Panasonic plans to set up a new factory in the United States, to produce electric vehicle battery cells for the new Tesla 4680.
Japanese public broadcaster NHK suggested that if the company wanted to build a factory in Oklahoma or Kansas, it would have to cost several billion dollars. Where, Panasonic is expected to want to have a factory near the location of Tesla’s own planned battery factory in Texas.
Panasonic had previously announced plans to start mass-producing Tesla’s new lithium-ion batteries before the end of March 2024, initially to do so with two new production lines at its Japanese plant located in Wakayama.
Tesla itself has launched the 4680 ‘tabless’ battery in September 2020. This battery measures 46 mm x 80 mm and is larger than the cell currently used by the electric car manufacturer from the United States.
Elon Musk said they would result in a 14 percent reduction in cost per kWh at the cell form factor level. Where, Tesla will manufacture these cells himself.
But in fact, LG Energy Solutions is eager to manufacture Tesla 4680 batteries in the United States or Europe and supply them to Tesla.
For information, an Israeli company called StoreDot has also used the 4680 battery cell format which can be fully charged in just 10 minutes.
The development of the 4680 StoreDot cell took three years in collaboration with British Petroleum. In addition to offering a 10-minute charge time, the StoreDot cylindrical cell charges no more than a standard battery cell. The Israeli company plans to start battery production in 2024.
