(Bloomberg) — Panasonic Holdings Corp. plans to launch the latest version of its EV battery cells starting this calendar year, the head of EV battery generation said.
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A revamped edition of its 2,170 cells will begin production at its Nevada production facility sometime in 2024 or 2025, CTO Shoichiro Watanabe said in an interview.
The Osaka-based electronics maker can deliver on its promise to quadruple production capacity by the 2030 fiscal year, according to Watanabe, and it doesn’t need to rely completely on building a new factory or heavy investments to do so. Panasonic has been working to boost the energy density of the 2170 cell, Watanabe said, adding that it could help reduce the overall cost of an electric vehicle.
“We’re going to increase battery capacity and productivity at the same time,” Watanabe said.
Panasonic has set its sights on North America and plans to ramp up production there as part of its goal to one day supply 200 gigawatt hours of power in electric vehicle batteries. Panasonic is also launching another, thicker, bulkier battery, called the 4680 cells.
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According to Watanabe, expanding production capacity by up to 10% until fiscal year 2025 necessarily requires the addition of new production lines or more investments. Decisions on the production schedule for batteries for next-generation electric vehicles at the Nevada plant, which is jointly operated with Tesla Inc. , will be made “unilaterally, but together,” he said.
Panasonic has invested heavily in the development of batteries for electric vehicles to ensure that it is not left in the global fight to phase out fossil fuels and move to clean, carbon-neutral energy sources.
Panasonic’s stock fell less than 1% on Monday morning in Tokyo. Stocks have remained largely unchanged this year, down from 26% last year.
It is currently building a battery plant in Kansas, currently in North America, and will reveal the location of a third by the end of this fiscal year ending in March. The company has committed to expanding its battery production capacity to 200 GWh by fiscal year 2030, from its current limit of 50 GWh.
While Watanabe declined to comment on the long-term location of the next plant, he said the operation of the new facility “will require thousands of employees. “
Panasonic said in December it had turned down about $700 million in public incentives to build a production facility in Oklahoma.
Earlier that month, Panasonic announced an agreement to acquire nanocomposite silicon anode fabrics from Sila Nanotechnologies Inc. The fabrics will be sourced from Sila’s facility in Washington state, while Panasonic pursues its battery supply chain in North America.
“Decisions about where to position new facilities are extraordinarily complex and are based on a wide range of factors,” a Panasonic spokesperson said, adding that the decision won’t impact operations in Nevada or Kansas.
The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act provides subsidies for U. S. -made battery cells, offering credit to global brands like Panasonic, which forecasts a cumulative operating profit of 85 billion yen ($587 million) in the fiscal year ending March 2024.
Japan took its own resolution in 2022 to foster a domestic market by pledging to increase the annual production capacity of lithium-ion batteries to 150 GWh by 2030. Although Panasonic doesn’t make cars, it is the largest battery manufacturer in the country and Subaru’s main supplier. Corp. , Mazda Motor Corp. , and Telsa.
Regarding Japan’s efforts to increase domestic production, Watanabe said that “if possible, the ideal would be to manufacture them ourselves. “
(Add actions. An earlier part of this article corrected the delay in the penultimate paragraph. )
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