Tesla and Panasonic reached an agreement to build a “Gigafactory”, a large-scale battery manufacturing plant in the United States.
According to Tesla, it will provide and maintain the land, buildings and utilities while Panasonic will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells. Panasonic will also invest in the equipment associated with the cells as well as machinery and other manufacturing tools. Supplier partners will provide the required precursor materials.
“Tesla will take the cells and other components to assemble battery modules and packs,” the press release stated. “To meet the projected demand for cells, Tesla will continue to purchase battery cells produced in Panasonic’s factories in Japan. Tesla and Panasonic will continue to discuss the details of implementation including sales, operations and investment.”
Thanks to the Gigafactory deal, Tesla believes this facility will employ around 6,500 people by 2020. The company also reports that the facility will eventually produce 35 GWh of cells and 50 GWh of packs per year by 2020. The resulting cells, packs and modules produced by the facility will be used in the stationary storage market as well as electric vehicles from Tesla.
