Item: Panasonic’s Enhanced EV Batteries Set to Hit the Roads Soon
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Author: Aiman Maulana

Panasonic’s Enhanced EV Batteries Set to Hit the Roads Soon

Panasonic Holdings Corp is gearing up to introduce the latest iteration of its electric vehicle (EV) battery cells with enhanced capacity, aiming for production as early as this calendar year. The Chief Technology Officer (CTO) for EV batteries, Shoichiro Watanabe, shared in an interview that the revamped version of its 2170 cells is scheduled to commence production at the Nevada manufacturing plant in 2024 or 2025.

Panasonic’s Enhanced EV Batteries Coming Soon

Panasonic’s commitment to quadruple production capacity by the 2030 fiscal year remains strong, and Watanabe asserts that achieving this milestone won’t necessarily require building new factories or substantial investments. The company has been diligently working on boosting the energy density of the 2170 cell, a move that could contribute to reducing the overall cost of electric vehicles.

Watanabe expressed Panasonic’s focus on North America, aiming to enhance and expand production as part of the broader goal to provide 200 gigawatt hours of energy in EV batteries. The company is also in the process of developing another battery variant, the 4680 cell, which is thicker and more voluminous.

The plans to increase manufacturing capacity by 10% by the 2025 fiscal year align with Panasonic’s strategic vision. Watanabe emphasized that decisions about the production timing of next-generation EV batteries at the Nevada plant, operated jointly with Tesla Inc, will be collaborative.

Panasonic’s investments in EV battery development reflect its commitment to staying at the forefront of the global shift towards clean, carbon-neutral energy sources. Despite declining slightly in Tokyo morning trading, Panasonic shares have remained mostly stable this year after a 26% climb in the previous year.

With ongoing construction of a battery plant in Kansas and plans for a third location to be revealed soon, Panasonic aims to elevate its battery production capacity to 200 GWh by the 2030 fiscal year. While Watanabe did not disclose the future plant’s location, he emphasized the need for thousands of employees to run the facility.

As Panasonic navigates complex decisions about its facilities’ locations, the company’s recent agreement to purchase nano-composite silicon anode material from Sila Nanotechnologies Inc. further strengthens its battery supply chain in North America. The Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act, offering subsidies for US-made battery cells, provides an advantage to global brands like Panasonic.

While Japan aims to increase annual lithium-ion battery production capacity to 150 GWh by 2030, Watanabe highlighted that, ideally, making batteries domestically aligns with Panasonic’s goals, emphasizing the company’s pivotal role as Japan’s top battery maker and a major supplier for renowned automakers.

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Pokdepinion: It’s one thing to improve on efficiency, it’s a whole other thing to bring the costs down, and the latter is what I feel we need more if we want to encourage higher adoption.