After a report came out in March saying Tesla battery supplier Panasonic was considering building a factory in Oklahoma or Kansas, new reports seem to have substantiated the claim.
Panasonic is considering a battery factory in the U.S. to produce a high-capacity electric vehicle battery for Tesla, according to a new report from Nikkei.
The electronics and EV battery manufacturer is considering multiple locations for the new factory, with Oklahoma among them.
Panasonic’s choice of location may depend heavily on local subsidy offerings and other local government support options.
Panasonic to Start Mass Production of Tesla’s 4680 Battery Cells by March 2024 https://t.co/4xZvlOnGQ2
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) February 28, 2022
The company also plans to produce new lithium-ion batteries at Panasonic’s Japan Wakayam Prefecture in 2023, which may help determine the next-generation battery’s profitability and whether or not the company builds a U.S. plant for them.
Panasonic currently works out of Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory to produce batteries for the U.S. automaker.
In April, Panasonic announced plans to invest $4.9 billion into EV batteries and supply chain software, among other things.
While fellow Tesla supplier CATL tops global EV battery market share garnering around 33 percent of the market in 2021, Panasonic is the world’s third-largest EV battery supplier with a market share of 12 percent in 2021.
The second-largest EV battery supplier is LG, another Tesla supplier, which captured 20 percent of the market share last year.
