Panasonic Energy, a Panasonic Group company, has broken ground on a new lithium-ion battery manufacturing facility in De Soto, Kansas, US with an investment of around $4 billion, to add critical capacity to the domestic electric vehicle (EV) battery supply chain.

The new facility will produce “2170” cylindrical Li-ion batteries and will have around 30GWh of annual production capacity on completion.

Panasonic Energy is planning to commence mass production at the lithium-ion battery factory by March 2025.

Kris Takamoto — Panasonic Energy Executive Vice President and EV Battery Business Head said: “Expanding production capacity in Kansas will enable us to continue delivering the highest quality batteries for our automotive partners as demand grows.

“We are already producing more than five million battery cells a day in North America, and the new facility in Kansas will further grow our capacity, efficiency and economies of scale which are critical to a net-zero emissions future.”

Located at the Astra Enterprise Park site, the lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant is expected to provide employment to 4,000 people and support Panasonic’s Green IMPACT initiative to reduce its own CO2 emission to nearly net-zero by 2030 and contributing to 300 million tons in avoided emissions by the year 2050.

Megan Myungwon Lee — Panasonic Corporation North America Chairwoman and CEO said: “This factory will open new career opportunities for De Soto residents in one of the most exciting industries in our modern economy.”

Currently, Panasonic Energy is developing a new “4680” high-capacity lithium-ion battery in Japan while its Sparks facility in Nevada is said to have shipped more than six billion EV battery cells.

  De Soto, Electric Vehicle, Kansas, Kris Takamoto, Lithium, Megan Myungwon Lee, Panasonic, Panasonic Energy, Panasonic Group, USA