Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Thank you, Mr. Air, a netizen of CTOnews.com, for your clue delivery! CTOnews.com, May 22, according to Nikkei Asia, Panasonic will spend 700 billion yen (CTOnews.com Note: currently about 35.63 billion yuan) on equipment investment this year, more than half of which will be invested in the vehicle battery business, aiming to increase battery capacity by 60% within one year.

▲ source: Panasonic

Panasonic said the investment would focus on the de Soto superbattery plant in Kansas, which will mainly supply 2170 cells to Tesla. At present, Panasonic Nevada Super Factory has an annual battery capacity of about 40 GWh, and the Kansas plant is expected to have an annual capacity of 30 GWh. When completed, the Arizona plant, which will surpass LG New Energy, will become the second largest battery factory in North America, second only to Panasonic Nevada Super Factory. Panasonic hopes that the Kansas plant, which goes into production in 2024, will increase car battery capacity by 60%.

Panasonic CFO Abek has pointed out that under the inflation reduction Act, cells manufactured in the United States in the decade from 2023 will receive a tax credit of $35 for every 1000 Wh. Panasonic estimates a discount of $1.3 billion for the Nevada superfactory and $1 billion for the Kansas superfactory. In addition, after Panasonic rejected the Kansas preferential measures for the first time, the Kansas state capital decided to provide Panasonic with a subsidy of about $830 million and pay 10 per cent of Panasonic de Soto plant employees. So Panasonic decided to increase car battery capacity in Kansas.

▲ de Soto factory rendering, picture source: Panasonic President Nan Xionggui pointed out at the earnings meeting that Panasonic's 381 billion yen in the field of automotive batteries will also be invested in the Wakayama branch, which gave birth to the latest high-capacity 4680 batteries. Panasonic will set up two new battery research and development centers in Osaka prefecture, which aims to increase battery energy density by 25% to 1000 Wh / L within five years.

The Nikkei Asia report stressed that Panasonic's investment in the battery business this year was 4.21 times that of 2022, setting a new record for Panasonic's highest investment in history. Previously, Panasonic's highest investment expenditure was in the 2008 fiscal year of the big bet on plasma displays, with an investment of as much as 494.4 billion yen. CTOnews.com reported earlier this month that Panasonic's operating profit in fiscal 2022 was 289 billion yen, and its investment in equipment of 700 billion yen was almost equivalent to Panasonic's profits for nearly three years. Reinjecting car batteries is also a big bet for Panasonic.

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