Nikkei reported on January 24 that Panasonic plans to invest about 80 billion yen ($700 million) to build a battery plant in Japan. In addition, Panasonic will produce 4680 prototype batteries for Tesla as early as 2023.
The report points out that Panasonic will produce 4680 batteries in a factory in Japan's goshan Prefecture, with an annual output of about 10 gigawatt hours, equivalent to providing batteries for 150000 cars. The new battery pack can extend the range by about a fifth.
Last October, Panasonic released the 4680 prototype battery for the first time. At that time, Tadanobu, head of Panasonic battery department, said: "we developed 4680 battery because Tesla has a strong demand for it. We think it will help us establish a stronger cooperative relationship with Tesla."
