Panasonic plans Kansas City EV battery plant

Panasonic Energy Co. Ltd. announced plans to build what is projected to be one of the nation’s largest EV battery manufacturing facilities in the Kansas City region.

Company officials said the state-of-the-art facility, in De Sota, Kan., will produce lithium-ion batteries that are crucial to the future growth of electric vehicle innovation. Panasonic Energy undertook the expansion to meet expected growth in demand; its current U.S. battery manufacturing capacity has shipped more than 6 billion EV battery cells.

At the event, which Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly and other public officials attended, the company shared plans for what is described as the largest economic development project in state history, with investment set at about $4 billion, and plans to create up to 4,000 new jobs.