Panasonic will pour billions of yen into Tesla’s gigafactory

Panasonic plans to initially invest billions of yen in Tesla’s gigafactory, which will research and produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. The tech giant, which recently set up a separate company in the United States dedicated to producing lithium-ion batteries for Tesla Motors, will invest billions of yen in the first investment installment, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Panasonic Corp’s initial investment in Tesla Motors Inc’s battery factory will amount to “tens of billions” of yen, the Japanese company’s chief executive said on Tuesday. Chief Executive Kazuhiro Tsuga also told reporters that he did not think the yen’s current exchange was “bad”, as long as it remained stable. He did not give any more details. California-based electric car maker Tesla has been hammering out the final details of the plant that will produce cheaper and more efficient battery packs for its vehicles. Panasonic has agreed to produce lithium ion cells for battery packs and will fund part of the cost of the plant.