Panasonic Energy, a major Tesla supplier, said on Wednesday it had selected Kansas as the site for a new battery plant that state officials said would create up to 4,000 jobs and represent an investment of up to $4 billion (?550.6 billion).
The move comes as Tesla CEO Elon Musk has said the maker of electric vehicles (EVs) faced challenges ramping up production of its in-house batteries, contributing to limited auto output. He described new Tesla factories in Texas and Berlin as ¡°gigantic money furnaces¡± which are losing billions of dollars.
The plant, to be built in De Soto, Kansas, is central to Panasonic¡¯s effort to ramp up production for electric vehicles as it pushes for gains in battery power and performance.
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