Please try another search
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A man is reflected on Panasonic's logo at Panasonic Center in Tokyo, Japan, February 2, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon/File Photo
2/2
(Corrects first and second paragraphs to clarify company is evaluating choices for future plant)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Panasonic (OTC:PCRFY) Holdings Corp, which makes batteries for electric car maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), is evaluating which U.S. state it will choose as the site for a new battery plant, a top executive said on Friday.
"We've been making various considerations, but we are starting to evaluate," said Panasonic Energy Chief Executive Officer Kazuo Tadanobu, speaking to reporters during a round table event. No decision had been made yet, he added.
The Japanese conglomerate is looking at potential factory sites in Kansas and Oklahoma to supply the batteries to the U.S. electric automaker's plant in Texas, two people with knowledge of the plan have said.
Tadanobu told investors and analysts on Wednesday that the company had shipped samples of its more powerful '4680' format electric car battery to Tesla.
The 4680 format battery - 46 millimetres in width and 80 millimetres in height - is about five times bigger than those that Panasonic currently supplies, meaning the U.S. electric automaker could be able to lower production costs and boost vehicles' driving range.
Panasonic said mass production of the new battery is set to begin before the end of March 2024 at its plant in Wakayama, western Japan, before production is moved to North America.
The Japanese company has partnered with Tesla for more than a decade, supplying batteries for its first cars.
Since then, the electric automaker has diversified supply chain and brought in other firms such as China's Contemporary Amperex Technology Co (CATL) and South Korea's LG Energy Solution.
(The story corrects first and second paragraphs to clarify company is evaluating choices for future plant.)
Are you sure you want to block %USER_NAME%?
By doing so, you and %USER_NAME% will not be able to see any of each other's Investing.com's posts.
%USER_NAME% was successfully added to your Block List
Since you’ve just unblocked this person, you must wait 48 hours before renewing the block.
I feel that this comment is:
Thank You!
Your report has been sent to our moderators for review
Add a Comment
We encourage you to use comments to engage with other users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind:
Enrich the conversation, don’t trash it.
Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically. Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user. Racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination will not be tolerated.
Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.