Panasonic and Tesla have worked together for many years on electric vehicles but their recent deal has taken the partnership to a whole new level. Both companies recently announced an agreement to work together on a large-scale battery manufacturing plant in the United States, known as the Gigafactory.
The Gigafactory will produce cells, modules and packs for Tesla’s electric vehicles and for the stationary storage market.
According to the agreement, Tesla will prepare, provide and manage the land, buildings and utilities. Panasonic will then manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and invest in the associated equipment, machinery, and other manufacturing tools based on their mutual approval.
A network of supplier partners is also planned to produce the required precursor materials. Tesla will take the cells and other components to assemble battery modules and packs. To meet the projected demand for cells, Tesla will continue to purchase battery cells produced in Panasonic’s factories in Japan.
Telsa said the Gigafactory will enable a continuous reduction in the cost of long range battery packs in parallel with manufacturing at the volumes required to enable Tesla to meet its goal of advancing mass market electric vehicles. The Gigafactory will be managed by Tesla with Panasonic joining as the principle partner responsible for lithium-ion battery cells and occupying approximately half of the planned manufacturing space; key suppliers combined with Tesla’s module and pack assembly will comprise the other half of this fully integrated industrial complex.
With this collaboration, cost reductions will be achieved through optimized manufacturing processes driven by economies of scale previously unobtainable in battery cell and pack production. Further price reductions are achieved by manufacturing cells that have been optimized for electric vehicle design, both in size and function, by co-locating suppliers on-site to eliminate packaging, transportation & duty costs and inventory carrying costs, and by manufacturing at a location with lower utility and operating expenses.
The Gigafactory is planned to produce 35GWh of cells and 50GWh of packs per year and employ about 6,500 people by 2020.
[Source: Tesla Motors]
