Powering up in Kansas, US, Panasonic is aiming for a long-term commitment to deepen the battery supply market in North America.
Panasonic officially opened its new lithium-ion battery facility in the US state of Kansas. The facility will produce 2170-format cylindrical cells with five per cent higher efficiency, matching improvements achieved at its Osaka, Japan, plant.
The company’s target for its annual production capacity is estimated to be 32GWh.
This plant spans around approximately 121.41 hectares (300 acres) and is projected to produce 4.5 million battery cells per day in its initial days. It is expected to have stable production, like in the Nevada unit, which has about 4000 workforce and produces about 11 billion 2170 battery cells till date.
Unlike the battery manufacturing unit in the Giga factory in Nevada, which exclusively supplies to Tesla, this new unit is designed to supply batteries to multiple customers like, Lucid for the Air sedan and Gravity SUV models, according to reports.
Even though the battery production in Kansas has been delayed due to falling demand for electric vehicles (EVs), Panasonic views this new plant as part of its long-term strategy to deepen its supply to the North American EV market.
The company aims to operate a dual-region supply model, serving global automakers from both Japan and North America.
