Panasonic needs four more EV battery plants, executive says (updated)

Panasonic Energy India

03/07/2023 10:05

(Adds details of Mazda, outlook for JVs)
    By Miho Uranaka
       OSAKA, Japan, July 3 (Reuters) - The battery arm of
Japan's Panasonic  6752.T  will need to build four more
factories to reach its target for a sharp boost in annual
capacity of batteries for electric vehicles by 2031, its
technology chief told Reuters.
    The comments by Shoichiro Watanabe of Panasonic Energy are
the Tesla  TSLA.O  supplier's first clear indication of the
number of additional factories it will need.
    They could also fuel expectations of more investment by
Japanese companies in the United States, after a deal the two
countries struck in March key to widening access for Japanese
manufacturers to U.S. electric-vehicle (EV) tax credits.
    In May, Panasonic Energy said it aimed to boost annual EV
capacity to 200 gigawatt hours (GWh) by early 2031, or about
four times its capacity in March this year.
    With a plant in Nevada, it is building a second in Kansas
that is expected to take annual capacity to 80 GWh once
operational, it has said.
    "We will need to build around another four factories,"
Watanabe, the company's chief technology officer, said in an
interview at its headquarters in Osaka on Friday.
    But he stopped short of mentioning specific locations, time
frames or investment sizes.
    He signalled an openness to potential joint ventures for EV
battery production, with automaker Mazda Motor  7261.T  among
others, citing the changing nature of such projects in which 
investment is no longer shouldered by battery makers alone.
    "The style where battery producers will make all investments
is disappearing," he said, adding that the 200 GWh capacity was
the minimum necessary to be a major player.
    
    NORTH AMERICA
    Panasonic has said it is focusing on North America to build
up capacity for production of 4680 batteries, the newest cells
championed by Tesla's chief executive, Elon Musk.
    Previously it said it planned to build at least two new
factories for 4680 production in North America by 2030. Oklahoma
has been seen as a possible site.
    The four new plants will need to be supported by about a
dozen factories of materials suppliers, Watanabe said, in a
battery supply chain built around the principle of "local
production for local consumption".
    Joint procurement with major customers could also be
considered, he said, taking into account tax breaks under the
U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the need to limit the
carbon footprint.
    Given the size of investment required, makers of materials
used in the batteries will also need to make decisions about
their plans as early as possible, he said.
    Panasonic will not rule out the possibility of a joint
battery venture with Mazda as part of a supply partnership the
companies are working out, Watanabe said.
    Last month the firms said they would hold talks on setting
up a partnership to supply Mazda with cylindrical lithium-ion
batteries made in Japan and North America.
    They aim to sign off on it this year, and expect to supply
batteries after 2025.    

 (Reporting by Miho Uranka; Writing by Daniel Leussink; Editing
by David Dolan)
 ((david.dolan@thomsonreuters.com; +81 3 4563 2708;))