Panasonic Holdings, a supplier to electric-car maker Tesla, is in talks to build an additional electric vehicle (EV) battery plant in the United States at a cost of around $4 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Panasonic is looking at Oklahoma as the location for its new plant, the newspaper said. In July, the company selected Kansas over Oklahoma as the site for a new battery plant that state officials said would create up to 4,000 jobs with investment of up to $4 billion. Panasonic also said it was looking at potential factory sites in Kansas and Oklahoma to supply the batteries to Tesla’s plant in Texas.
By 2029, Panasonic plans to expand battery production capacity by three to four times, with most of the increase in North America.