Panasonic Corporation announced today that it has established a new manufacturing company of lithium-ion batteries, Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America in Sparks, Nevada, the United States on October 1, 2014. Tesla and Panasonic have been working together in various collaborative projects toward the popularization and growth of electric vehicles since 2007.
The new company, Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America will be built in the Tesla Gigafactory, a large-scale battery manufacturing plant which has been discussed between Tesla and Panasonic, and will produce and sell lithium-ion batteries. This new factory will enable a continuous reduction in the cost of long range battery packs in parallel with manufacturing at the volumes required to enable Tesla to meet its goal of advancing mass market electric vehicles. Through this cooperation, Panasonic will contribute to accelerate the expansion of the electric vehicle market.
Panasonic plans to continuously expand operations meeting with Tesla's vehicle delivery schedule, driven by the progressive role out of new vehicles and across global markets. The factory will occupy 555,000 square meters. Panasonic has committed an initial investment of $5 million to establish Panasonic Energy Corporation of North America.
