Why is Panasonic investing to produce batteries for Tesla?

Tesla has been the bell weather of sustainable mobility & storage in a world riddled with Climate Change linked problems

As batteries form the most expensive part of an electric vehicle, Tesla has tried for several years to decrease the cost of its battery cells to move closer to price parity with gas vehicles since the commercialization of its Electric Vehicles.

In September 2020, Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Vice President of Technology Drew Baglino have unveiled a new 4680 battery cell during its “Battery Day” event. This cell was meant to create a more affordable electric car.

The new tabless battery design was meant to

1. Increase the energy density(by five times), power(by six times), and range(by sixteen percent) for its electric vehicles
2. Increase manufacturing efficiency, leading to decreased cost per kilowatt-hour

While Tesla itself is planning mass production of these 4680 battery cells at the company’s Kato Road pilot facility in Fremont, Panasonic also launched its 4680 Battery Cells in order to service the need of Tesla & other players in October 2021.

The decision of Panasonic is based on the rationale that Tesla is going to need so many 4680 cells that it will need to partner with current battery suppliers along with the in-house facility.

Accordingly, Nikkei reported on Monday(Jan 24th, 2022), that Panasonic will begin producing these 4680 cells at a plant in Wakayama prefecture(Western Japan) for Tesla from as early as 2023 with an investment of about 80 billion yen ($705 million).

This was on expected lines as along with Panasonic, LG, Samsung, CATL, etc. have all also indicated that they aim to produce 4680 cells for Tesla as the EV manufacturer intends to buy every battery cell from the suppliers for the foreseeable future.

Hope we see the outcome linked to this in the form of competitively priced Electric Vehicles in comparison to traditional IC Engine based Vehicles.

Look forward to hearing your thoughts.

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References:

1. https://www.usnews.com/news/technology/articles/2022-01-24/panasonic-to-invest-700-million-to-produce-new-batteries-for-evs-nikkei
2. Panasonic will invest $705 million to launch Tesla 4680 battery production in 2023
3. Tesla debuts new 4680 battery cell: 500% more energy, 6X power, range increase
4. Panasonic is investing $700 million to produce Tesla 4680 battery cell by 2023
5. Electric vs. Combustion Engine: What are the Differences?
6. How Battery Costs Impact Tesla’s Margins: An Interactive Analysis
7. Tesla adds structural battery pack reference to Model Y owner’s manual as production is imminent
8. Tesla’s partner Panasonic to expand EV battery production in Japan
9. Panasonic to make Tesla batteries in Japan after U.S. snag
10. lg-vs-catl-lithium-battery-cell-market-september-2020-andy-lee — OROVEL