(Tokyo) Panasonic announced on Monday that it will expand one of its factories in western Japan to mass-produce there from its 2023-2024 fiscal year its next lithium-ion battery, which is already the subject of strong demand from the American Tesla.
Posted at 7:40 a.m.
Asked by AFP, the group did not reveal the amount of this investment. At the end of January, the Japanese economic daily Nikkei had spoken of 80 billion yen (more than 882 million at the current rate).
Panasonic’s new ‘4680’ cylindrical battery (so called because it’s 46mm in diameter and 80mm in height) is larger and more powerful than its previous models, while supposedly cheaper to manufacture.
This product already benefits from “strong demand” from Tesla, which will therefore be served as a priority, said the Japanese group’s chief financial officer, Hirokazu Umeda, in early February when publishing its quarterly results.
Two additional production lines will notably be built at a Panasonic plant in Wakayama County, south of Osaka.
The Japanese group thus chooses “made in Japan”, even though it has been operating a “Gigafactory” jointly with Tesla in Nevada since 2017.
This joint battery mega-factory had been particularly expensive for the two partners, having taken four years to reach a level of mass production. This business has only recently become profitable for Panasonic.
“In Japan, technological development and mass production verifications can be carried out more quickly,” a Panasonic spokeswoman told AFP on Monday.
While continuing to bet on Tesla, the Japanese group is also seeking to reduce its dependence on its large American customer, which is also diversifying its partners in batteries.
“All possibilities are on the table” concerning other future customers for the 4680 battery, the Panasonic spokeswoman reminded AFP on Monday.