Panasonic is sending dozens of its floor supervisors to Tesla's Nevada factory in order to boost the legacy 2170 and novel 4680 battery cell production rate there by 10%. This is the equivalent of adding a new line, but instead of investing in the equipment for it, Panasonic plans to optimize the productivity of Tesla's original battery Gigafactory in Nevada and bring it up to speed with its own plant in Osaka.
After the Japanese are done smoothing Tesla's American factory workflow and reducing the number of equipment issues there, the conveyor belts in Nevada are reportedly going to churn out 43GWh of annual cell capacity there. The Panasonic supervisors have been dispatched to the US since June, reports Nikkei, as Elon Musk is on record saying that Tesla has secured enough supply of the 2170 batteries for 2022, but that the "4680 will be important next year."
Besides boosting the productivity levels of Tesla's Gigafactory in Nevada, Panasonic recently announced plans to build a multibillion 4680 cell battery plant in Kansas. It, however, won't become operational before 2024, that is why Panasonic needs to increase the current factory output via process optimizations. LG, as well as Samsung, will be breathing down its neck when it comes to the Tesla 4680 battery supply chain, with Samsung offering various sizes within this cylindrical battery style, and LG expecting to surpass Panasonic in production levels.
