panasonic and tesla rethink gigafactory expansion - energy storage companies
TOKYO —
The company said Panasonic was looking at further investment in battery production in its gigabit plant joint venture with Tesla, which responded to media reports that the two companies had frozen previous plans
Tesla shares fell 3.
3% in a previous deal in Bell, New York, the company said it would continue to invest in the Nevada plant as needed, but believed that more output could be obtained from existing resources than previously thought.
Japan's financial daily reported earlier on Thursday that due to financial problems, the two companies are rethinking plans to expand Geely's factory capacity by another 50% next year.
The paper said the two companies had invested $4 together.
5 billion, and plans to expand the capacity of the plant from the current 35 gigawatt hours to the equivalent of 54 gigawatt hours per year in 2020.
"Panasonic built 35 GWh's battery production capacity at Tesla's gigabit Plant 1 by the end of March 2019 to meet growing demand," Panasonic said . ".
"Looking at the demand situation, Panasonic will work with Tesla to study additional investments above 35GWh.
"Neither company has published detailed future development plans for the site, although Panasonic said in last July that it would consider further investment in Geely's plant if requested by the USS.
Electric vehicle manufacturers
A Tesla spokesman said in a statement: "We will certainly continue to make new investments in Geely factory 1 as needed . ".
"However, we believe that there is much more output from improving existing production equipment than previously estimated.
"Panasonic is Tesla's exclusive battery supplier, and Tesla is Panasonic's largest battery customer for electric vehicles.
On February, Tesla said it had agreed to buy American companies. S.
Maxwell Technologies, an energy storage company, sent shares to Panasonic lower.
Chief executive Elon Musk also said on November that,S.
The company will produce all battery modules and battery packs at the new Shanghai plant and plans to diversify the sources. Lower-than-
Earlier this month, Tesla's expected first-quarter car delivery spooked stock and bond investors, adding to Wall Street's concerns about its future cash flow.
Tesla is expected to report first
Quarterly earnings for April 24.