Japanese battery and digital producer Panasonic has confirmed it’ll construct a 3rd EV cell manufacturing unit in the USA, based on Automotive Information, citing Panasonic Power’s CEO Kazuo Tadanobu, who spoke on the firm’s annual enterprise technique assembly yesterday.
Presently, the Japanese electronics firm operates a producing facility together with Tesla on the EV maker’s Giga Nevada plant, and a second battery plant is being in-built De Soto, Kansas, which can value an estimated $4 billion when it’s all mentioned and achieved.
Experiences of a 3rd Panasonic EV battery plant in the USA surfaced final 12 months, when “folks acquainted with the matter” indicated that the positioning of the power can be both in Kansas or Oklahoma.
Panasonic Batteries: 2170 cylindrical cells
The Japanese model’s CEO didn’t give away the placement simply but, saying that the positioning can be introduced by March 2024 and that there are a number of candidates in thoughts. Nevertheless, with Panasonic already constructing its second manufacturing unit in Kansas, rumors are saying that the third facility will break floor in Oklahoma.
The explanation behind one other plant is the cell maker’s plan to massively ramp up manufacturing within the close to future, quadrupling its manufacturing capability and boosting the vitality density of its battery by 25 p.c by the tip of the last decade.
As per Automotive Information, Panasonic’s lithium ion cells had an vitality density of 800 watts per liter in 2022 and the plan is to extend it to 1,000 watts per liter in 2030. Enhancements can be utilized to the subsequent technology of its 2170 cylindrical cell, in addition to the upcoming 4680-type battery.
Relating to the third manufacturing unit within the US, Tadanobu mentioned that it’s going to have an analogous capability to that of the Kansas web site, or about 30 gigawatt-hours per 12 months.
“With a view to reply to rapidly rising EV demand,” he mentioned, “we can be growing capability.”
By 2031, Panasonic will broaden its world battery manufacturing and procurement capability to 200 GWh, up from 50 GWh within the fiscal 12 months that ended March 31, 2023. In consequence, the Japanese firm’s CEO predicts income may even quadruple to about $17.9 billion (2.5 trillion yen) in the identical interval as EV gross sales take off.
Panasonic 2170 batteries are utilized by Tesla in its EVs, and Lucid introduced late final 12 months that it too will make the most of the Japanese firm’s cells to energy the Air sedan and the upcoming Gravity SUV.
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