Panasonic has confirmed it intends to build four more electric vehicle battery plants in the coming years, according to Reuters.
This comes after Automotive News reported last month that the Japanese multinational giant plans to build a third EV battery factory in the United States.
Panasonic currently operates a facility in Nevada and is in the process of building one in Kansas. The location of the third U.S. plant has yet to be revealed. According to InsideEVs, rumors suggest the most likely destination for that third plant is Oklahoma.
InsideEVs noted that Panasonic intends to quadruple its manufacturing capacity and mark a 25% increase in the energy density of their batteries by 2030.
Throughout the globe, transportation produces 16.2% of the planet-warming gases emitted by human activities.
In the U.S., the percentage is much higher, at around 30%, surpassing emissions from any other industry. Air pollution caused by conventional gasoline-powered vehicles is also detrimental to human health, and is known to contribute to respiratory diseases, different cancers, and heart attacks.
EVs significantly cut down on heat-trapping air pollution since they produce no exhaust, and they are becoming increasingly popular among motorists. In 2011, there were around 22,000 EVs on the road, while in 2021 there were over 2 million.
According to InsideEVs, by 2031, Panasonic plans to expand its global battery production and capacity to 200 gigawatt-hours.
This is a significant increase from the previous fiscal year, which had a capacity of 50 GWh. The expansion is in response to the growing demand for EVs. As a result, the CEO of Panasonic predicts that the company's revenue will quadruple to around $17.9 billion during the same period.
"In order to respond to quickly growing EV demand," Panasonic Energy's CEO Kazuo Tadanobu said, "we will be increasing capacity."
Some of the commenters of the InsideEVs article expressed their enthusiasm.
"Keep them coming!" one wrote. "More jobs! More batteries! Cleaner air!"
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