The investment consolidates the multi-year collaboration between Panasonic and Tesla, which currently uses Panasonic battery cells in its battery packs and has collaborated with Panasonic on the development of battery cells designed specifically for EVs.
While Tesla’s current battery strategy incorporates proprietary packaging using cells from multiple battery suppliers, Tesla has selected Panasonic as its preferred lithium-ion battery cell supplier for the battery packs.
Tesla, which builds EV powertrains, including battery packs, for other automobile manufacturers, in addition to producing its own EVs, plans to work with Panasonic to explore joint marketing and sales of battery packs to be designed and assembled by Tesla using Panasonic battery cells.
Tesla CEO and cofounder Elon Musk said it is an honor and a powerful endorsement of its technology that Panasonic, the world’s leading battery cell manufacturer, would choose to invest in and partner with Tesla.
“Panasonic offers the highest energy-density cells and industry-leading performance with cutting edge Nickel-type cathode technology, and we believe our partnership with them will enable us to further improve our battery pack while reducing cost,” Musk said.
