Image: Reuters Berita 24 English - A significant supplier to Tesla Inc., Panasonic Energy Co. of Japan, announced on Wednesday that it had...
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| Image: Reuters |
Berita 24 English - A significant supplier to Tesla Inc., Panasonic Energy Co. of Japan, announced on Wednesday that it had chosen Kansas as the location for a new battery plant that would, according to state officials, generate up to 4,000 jobs and an investment of up to $4 billion.
After Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly urged the state legislature to adopt an incentive package worth up to $1 billion earlier this year, Panasonic Energy, a division of electronics behemoth Panasonic Holdings Corp., chose Kansas over Oklahoma for the project.
The facility, which will be built in De Soto, a small town on the western outskirts of Kansas City, is essential to the company's efforts to increase production of electric vehicles as it pursues improvements in battery performance and power. The company already supplies Tesla from a plant in Nevada.
The Kansas Department of Commerce announced that after Panasonic has finished investing and recruiting, the state will reimburse it with anticipated subsidies of $829 million.
Kansas anticipated that the factory will generate $2.5 billion in economic activity annually, offsetting the state's greatest development subsidy package.
The aims for job creation and investment, according to state officials, are subject to Panasonic's board of directors' approval. No decisions had been made on the new plant's production capacity, investment amount, or workforce headcount, a Panasonic representative told Reuters.
Panasonic intends to boost battery production capacity by three to four times by 2029, with the majority of the expansion taking place in North America.
With production beginning in Japan, Panasonic is planning to provide Tesla with a more potent, larger battery known as the 4680 model.
The Oklahoma Department of Commerce declared in a statement that it was "optimistic for other prospects" to secure Panasonic investment in the future.
Expanding battery production in the United States is essential to helping satisfy demand as the automobile market becomes more electrified, according to Panasonic Energy President Kazuo Tadanobu.
At 02:05 GMT, Panasonic Holdings shares were up 0.6 percent, while Tokyo's Nikkei market saw a 0.7 percent increase.
According to U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel, the choice of whether to build the facility in Kansas or Oklahoma was "down to the wire" three weeks ago.
According to Emanuel, the factory will have a research division devoted to developing next-generation batteries and will largely supply batteries to Tesla, however it is not only the business led by Chief Executive Elon Musk.
President Joe Biden's discussions with Panasonic officials during his May visit to Japan, according to Emanuel, helped the transaction come together.
As part of an industry trend to meet anticipated growth for EVs and lessen reliance on production in China and related supply chain issues, several battery producers have recently announced plans to invest in U.S. manufacturing or started negotiations with state officials.
Battery manufacturers from South Korea have declared plans to invest $5.5 billion in American facilities this year.
According to sources with knowledge of the conversations, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co Ltd (CATL), the leading global supplier of batteries, has also been examining locations for American manufacturing.
