KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Panasonic will invest several billion dollars to develop a second U.S. electric vehicle battery factory in Kansas to supply a new high-capacity battery for Tesla, according to Nikkei Asia.
The outlet reports that the Japanese company picked the site of the new facility due to its proximity to Texas and favorable tax treatment.
The announcement comes as Panasonic reportedly faces increased production demands from Tesla as their annual vehicle deliveries reached about 936,000 last year.
Panasonic allegedly looked at potential factory sites in Kansas and Oklahoma to supply the batteries to the U.S. electric automaker's plant in Texas.
The report says that mass production of its 4680 format battery is set to begin before the end of March 2024 at its plant in Wakayama, Japan, before production is moved to North America.
The battery is about five times bigger than those that Panasonic currently supplies, according to a Reuters report. Its larger size means that Tesla could be able to lower production costs and boost the vehicle's driving range.
Panasonic has a long history with Tesla, supplying batteries for its first cars over a decade ago.
More information could come as early as Wednesday afternoon.
