A: Yo, Sakura-chan! Heard any good news lately?
B: Not much, what's up?

A: Check this out! Panasonic started making EV batteries in Kansas!
B: Really? That's cool! They invested 4 billion dollars for it, right?

A: Yeah! They even have plans to hire 4,000 workers. The plant can make batteries enough for 450,000 electric vehicles each year!
B: Wow, that's a big deal! But it seems they won't reach full production by the end of March 2027 like they planned.

A: You got it. Partly because their main customer, Tesla, is having falling sales. Also, the US tax breaks for EV purchases will end in September.
B: Oh no! That's tough... I hope they can find other customers to diversify!
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A subsidiary of Japanese electronics giant Panasonic Holdings has started mass producing EV batteries at a factory in the US state of Kansas.



Panasonic Energy held a ceremony on Monday. The company has invested 4 billion dollars to build the plant, its second in the US.



The facility's annual output capacity is expected to be enough to power 450,000 electric vehicles. There are plans to hire up to 4,000 workers.



But the full production that was initially targeted by the end of March 2027 has been effectively postponed. That's partly due to falling sales at the company's key customer, Tesla.



Another unfavorable factor for Panasonic is that US tax breaks for EV purchases are set to expire in September. This will likely mean a challenging business climate just as the company is trying to diversify its customer base.