Tesla, Panasonic team up to build battery ‘gigafactory’

Source: Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press • Posted: Friday, August 1, 2014

Tesla Motors Inc. and Panasonic Corp. are teaming up to build a battery manufacturing plant.

The California-based electric vehicle maker and Japanese electronics giant will produce lithium-ion battery cells for EVs at a “gigafactory” in the United States, the companies said today.

The plant will cut EV battery costs as more consumers turn to alternative-fuel cars, Tesla said.

“The gigafactory represents a fundamental change in the way large-scale battery production can be realized,” said J.B. Straubel, Tesla’s co-founder and chief technical officer.

The companies haven’t said where the plant, expected to create 6,500 jobs by 2020, will be located (Yuri Kageyama, Associated Press, July 31)