According to sources, automakers Stellantis and BMW are in talks with Panasonic to partner up to build EV battery factories in North America.
Panasonic specializes in cylindrical battery cells and has been making them for Tesla vehicles for over a decade.
- Automakers
presently have two choices when it comes to EV batteries: cylindrical
batteries or rectangular pouch or prismatic shapes.
- Legacy automakers prefer prismatic-shaped batteries as they are larger, need fewer parts, and are often cheaper to produce.
- However, cylindrical batteries tend to have more power and are considered relatively safer than their rectangular counterparts.
- Panasonic and other EV battery manufacturers are working on larger versions of cylindrical batteries.
- If Stellantis and Panasonic reach a deal, it would be the automaker’s third EV battery plant in North America.
- Stellantis,
whose brands include Chrysler and Jeep, partnered with LG Energy
Solution for a plant in Canada and Samsung SDI for a plant in Indiana.
