Electric vehicle (EV) batteries are a hot topic this year, especially leading up to Tesla’s upcoming Battery Day, in which the company is expected to unveil a “million-mile” battery. Still, the company is looking to other companies to fulfill its battery needs at the moment, and this is expected to continue, at least for the foreseeable future.
According to Yahoo Finance, Panasonic is expanding its production line at Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory, and the move is set to increase battery production capacity by 10%.
Carl Walton, Panasonic Energy North America’s vice president of production engineering and facilities, told the Gazette Journal that Panasonic would be putting in new equipment and that production would begin shortly after that.
Panasonic also plans to increase its employee-base at the Nevada Gigafactory by adding about 100 new positions to the warehouse with about 7,000 total workers between the two companies.
Panasonic to expand battery capacity at Tesla Gigafactory
Panasonic is adding another production line to the massive factory it operates with Tesla in Nevada, an expansion that will increase battery cell capacity by 10%.
The Sparks facility, dubbed Gig… https://t.co/GtEL2nqYH6
— Alex Hammer (@AIHammer) September 9, 2020
Although Tesla has been working with a number of battery makers around the world, it has consistently worked with Panasonic, and the two companies currently share a three-year contract under which Panasonic will continue to make and supply Tesla’s lithium-ion batteries.
Other companies Tesla has worked with include Korea’s LG Chem Ltd and China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd.
In spite of the partnership with Panasonic, questions have arisen over Tesla’s upcoming Battery Day and how a move towards using its own batteries may strain the relationship between Tesla and Panasonic.
Whatever the partnership brings in the long run, it’s safe to say that Tesla and Panasonic have brought better EV batteries to consumers the past several years, and that’s something to be thankful for.
