Panasonic Holdings (6752.T) intends to increase production of electric vehicle batteries at a Nevada factory jointly operated with Tesla (TSLA.O) by 10% over the next three years, according to a company spokesperson on Tuesday.
Monday’s Nikkei Asia report stated that Panasonic Energy would implement a fifteenth production line at the Gigafactory Nevada.
At a business strategy meeting last week, Panasonic Energy disclosed plans to increase the Nevada factory’s production capacity by 10% by March 2026, according to a Panasonic Group spokesperson who declined to comment further. Tesla declined to comment in response to a request.
Panasonic had not disclosed where it would add production capacity in North America.
Panasonic announced last month its intention to construct at least two new battery cell manufacturing facilities in North America by 2030. With this step, it intends to increase its auto battery capacity to 200 gigawatt hours per year by March 2031, approximately four times its current level as of the end of March 2019.
According to a Nikkei report, Tesla recently informed Panasonic that it would “buy as much as (Panasonic) can make.” This is according to an executive at the Japanese manufacturer.
Panasonic is operating a pilot 4680 production line at its Wakayama factory in Japan, whereas Tesla is already producing the 4680 battery cells, which Musk has promoted as essential to the development of affordable and more compelling electric vehicles.
