Panasonic said it’s open to teaming up with Tesla Inc. on the U.S. carmaker’s plan to build a factory in Shanghai, according to Bloomberg.
The Japanese company hasn’t received a request from Tesla to cooperate in China, said Yoshio Ito, chief of Panasonic’s automotive and industrial systems unit. The electronics maker already has a facility in Dalian. The factory isn’t an option to supply Tesla, however, because it makes square batteries, unlike the cylindrical ones used by the carmaker, he said.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk plans to build a car assembly plant in China that will begin production in two years and eventually be able to make as many as 500,000 vehicles annually. While Musk said the factory will also make batteries, he didn’t specify the supplier. Panasonic would be a natural choice, because it’s already Tesla’s exclusive supplier of batteries and a partner at its Gigafactory in Nevada.
Tesla is both looking to expand its capacity and to more efficiently reach global markets. Musk, 47, said more than two years ago that he expects Tesla to produce more than 500,000 vehicles in 2018 at its lone car-assembly plant in Fremont, California, but the company is well off that pace because of the Model 3’s slow start. Musk has also said he plans to reveal plans toward the end of this year to build a plant in Europe, without discussing plans for battery production.
When the largest amusement park in Germany, Europa-Park, began constructing its new Croatia area, it found inspiration in Rimac hypercars and technology for its new rollercoaster – the Voltron Nevera Powered by Rimac.
Following the end of the public delisting acquisition offer for Telefónica Deutschland, Telefónica holds approximately 96.85% of the shares in its German subsidiary.
Infobip Shift Miami, the American version of the Croatian developer conference, this week brought together a diverse technology-sector audience on the shores of Florida.
