Panasonic has been a leading provider for batteries and cells, especially in the electric vehicle (EV) industry. With a growing demand for sustainable and efficient energy, the competition between cell providers is fierce.
The company has been supplying 2170 lithium-ion cells to Tesla, for the Model 3 vehicle in 2017. The energy density of these 2170 cells has already been increased by 5%, but Panasonic aims to further boost these by 20% in five years as reported by Reuters.
Since the Model 3 batteries are also used in Model Y, this new battery cell could potentially be implemented for a range of vehicles. Senior Vice President Yasuaki Takamoto stated that the company would start making adjustments to their production lines, especially those that work with Tesla in their Nevada facility.
Panasonic also plans to release a cobalt-free battery cell in the next two to three years. Tesla has other suppliers like Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL) and LG Chemical, with CATL already providing cobalt-free batteries made of lithium iron phosphate.
While this should pose a threat to Panasonic, lithium iron phosphate batteries have roughly half the energy density of the company’s latest battery cells. We may get some news about this development on Battery Day, which takes place on September 22.
