Electric Vehicles

Panasonic Ready to Start Making Next-Gen EV Cells at Japan Plant

  • Wakayama facility to be center for 4680 lithium-ion batteries
  • Tesla supplier bolstering its R&D with help of new subsidies
Panasonic’s 4680 battery.Photographer: Yuki Furukawa/Bloomberg
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Panasonic Holdings Corp. is ready to kick off production of its next-generation electric vehicle batteries after reopening a plant in Wakayama, Japan.

The site in the country’s south, which was formerly used to make battery components, will become the main facility for production of Panasonic’s 4680 cylindrical lithium-ion cell, and output will begin as soon as a final evaluation is completed, the company said Monday without disclosing a specific date.