Panasonic Energy to Build $4B Battery Plant in Kansas

Panasonic Energy Co. receives state economic incentives to build a $4 billion battery manufacturing plant in eastern Kansas.

Described by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly as the biggest economic development project in the state’s history, the plant is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs manufacturing batteries for electric vehicles. The project will support an estimated 4,000 additional jobs created by suppliers and community businesses as well as 16,500 construction jobs, according to an independent Wichita State University economic impact study.

The plant will be built in DeSoto, KS, part of the Kansas City (MO) metropolitan area, where General Motors and Ford operate assembly plants.

“With the increased electrification of the automotive market, expanding battery production in the U.S. is critical to help meet demand,” Kazuo Tadanobu, president and CEO of Panasonic Energy, says in announcing the company’s commitment to the Kansas site.

Panasonic not only supplies battery-electric vehicle maker Tesla with lithium-ion batteries – 18650-type and 2170-type cylindrical cells -- but also produces 2170-type cells at the 5-year-old Tesla Gigafactory in Sparks, NV.

The State of Kansas has approved an Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion (APEX) incentive application submitted by Panasonic Energy.

“Once Governor Kelly signed APEX into law,” Lt. Gov. David Toland says, “the state gained the necessary economic development tool to pursue megaprojects that could transform the Kansas economy. Panasonic recognized Kansas as not just a contender, but as the ideal partner for this revolutionary project.”