Panasonic, Tesla’s battery cell partner, is reportedly teaming up with Toyota to create an important electric vehicle battery cell venture in China and Japan.
According to a report from Japan’s Nikkei, the two Japanese companies would create a new joint-venture that would result in Panasonic producing a large number of cells for the automaker”
“The venture, in which Toyota is to hold a 51% stake with Panasonic owning the rest, will be announced as soon as this week. Panasonic will shift five automotive battery production facilities in Japan and China to the new company, though the U.S. plant it operates under a partnership with American automaker Tesla will not be included.”
For Panasonic, it would represent shifting an important part of its battery cell production capacity to Toyota’s electric vehicle programs.
Toyota has fallen behind when it comes to all-electric vehicles as it preferred to focus on fuel cell cars for years.
Lately, it is tentatively making moves in the space since announcing an expansion of its electric car plans last year with 10 upcoming new BEVs.
The first one is supposed to launch next year and it also happens to be when this new venture with Panasonic is supposed to go into operation, according to Nikkei.
The joint-venture would not only supply batteries to Toyota vehicles but also other partners like Mazda and Subaru.
Again according to the report, it will also involve the production of next-generation battery cells, including solid-state batteries.
Just over a year ago, the two companies announced that they were exploring the possibility to cooperate on batteries.
Electrek’s Take
I’ve been saying it forever: if you want to see how serious an automaker is about electric vehicles, you need to look at what they are doing to secure battery cell supply.
Until now, I would have never said that Toyota was serious about EVs, but it could be the case if the report turns out to be true.
Interestingly, the deal appears to be reminiscent of Tesla’s battery partnership with Panasonic, but we would need more details to confirm that.
Either way, this could be very important news for the over industry. We will keep an eye out for more information.
