Change the world of transport? Panasonic readies new battery Tesla sees as key to $25K EVs

tech.hindustantimes.com:

Panasonic Corp. is gearing up to become a major manufacturer of a new, more powerful battery championed by Tesla Inc. that the Japanese electronics maker says meets the demands of its high-flying customer.

Over the past year and a half, Panasonic has been working to develop a bigger “4680” battery it intends to sell to the American electric carmaker. Because of the battery’s larger volume, fewer cells and related parts are needed to power an electric vehicle, leading Tesla Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk to tout the technology as the key to unlocking $25,000 EVs.

Developing the new batteries has “taken an immense amount of stamina” over the past months, Kazuo Tadanobu, chief executive officer of Panasonic’s energy business, said at a recent interview at the company’s headquarters in Osaka. 

While a common inclination may be to look for ways to pack more energy into already existing cell sizes, changing the entire shape took “considerable nerve,” Tadanobu said, adding that “we didn’t know how they would be received.” Tesla, whose Model 3 starts at around $41,000 with tax incentives, has acknowledged that Panasonic’s new batteries are viable and meet the level of performance it’s seeking, according to the executive.

Panasonic will start mass production of 4680 batteries in the fiscal year starting April 2023, with plans to establish two additional production lines as well as facilities at its Wakayama factory in western Japan. Ahead of that, the company is setting up a prototype production line for the batteries, also in Japan.

The push into next-generation batteries is a bold new step for the Japanese electronics giant. Even as it faced soaring demand for batteries from Tesla, Panasonic has been slower to build scale