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INTERNATIONAL – Panasonic Corp. is said to be ready to partner with Tesla Inc. to build a factory in Shanghai
The Japanese company has not received a request from Tesla to cooperate in China, said Yoshio Ito, Head of the Panasonic Automotive and Industrial Systems Unit. The electronics manufacturer based in Osaka already has a factory in Dalian. The factory is not an option to provide Tesla, as it manufactures square batteries, in contrast to the cylinders used by the automaker, he said.
CEO Elon Musk plans to build a car badembly plant in China. start production in two years and eventually be able to manufacture up to 500,000 vehicles a year. While Musk said the factory will also manufacture batteries, he did not specify the supplier. Panasonic would be a natural choice because it is already the exclusive supplier of Tesla batteries and a partner of its gigafactory in Nevada.
"The batteries are heavy and flammable, so there is little chance of shipping them by plane" briefing in Tokyo on Thursday. "It would be ideal to have a battery factory next to the badembly line."
Car Manufacturers Looking To Qualify For EV Incentives Provided By The Chinese Government Select Domestic Battery Suppliers In Part Because Of The Models Made with foreign brands will not qualify, even if there is no written rule prohibiting non-Chinese suppliers. Panasonic is competing with the Chinese company Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. for the supply of batteries. CATL said its shipments reached 11.8 gigawatt hours last year, more than the 10 gigawatt hours delivered by Panasonic.
Panasonic produces battery cells, which Tesla uses to make batteries used in its electric vehicles. Panasonic also supplies batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles manufactured by Toyota Motor Corp. and Volkswagen AG.
Tesla is looking to expand its capacity and reach global markets more effectively. Musk, 47, said more than two years ago that he was expecting Tesla to produce more than 500,000 vehicles in 2018 at his car badembly plant in Fremont, California. but society is far from that pace. He has built a total of about 88,000 vehicles during the first half of this year.
Musk also said that he was planning to reveal plans towards the end of this year to build a plant in Europe, without discussing plans for battery production.
"We will not say no," but it will depend on the timing and scale, "said Panasonic's Ito." It seems that the priority of Tesla is China. "
– BLOOMBERG
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