With the accelerated development of the electric vehicle market, the related power battery manufacturers are also expanding their production capacity to meet the increasing demand for batteries. Recently, Panasonic announced that the company will expand its electric vehicle battery-related business in Nevada.
Panasonic 18650 battery
The Japanese company already produces the Model 2170 lithium-ion battery at tesla's gigafactory near Sparks, Nevada, and now they want to add a new campus in Reno to meet Tesla's growing battery needs. According to Panasonic Energy North America (PENA), a subsidiary of Panasonic North America, the newly expanded multi-purpose plant will open in the spring of 2022 and will support the company's overall electric vehicle strategy. As planned in advance, the new campus will actually be PENA's departmental headquarters, with engineering laboratories, staff recruitment and training facilities, and other support departments.
Different kinds of batteries
According to the third quarter report of 2021, Panasonic's global electric vehicle battery production capacity is 50 GWh, and the 2170 model battery produced for Tesla's gigafactory accounts for about 38-39 GWh of it. This also reflects the important impact Tesla has on Panasonic's battery business. The establishment of the new park also shows that the prospects for cooperation between the two are still very broad. It is reported that Tesla's latest 4680 cylindrical battery or will be handed over to Panasonic for production, which is also one of the most important projects of PENA at present.