Reduce Domestic Stock, Panasonic Cuts 60 Percent Electric Vehicle Battery Production

EV battery component. (Doc. Panasonic)

JAKARTA - The well-known electric vehicle battery company Panasonic, which is also Tesla's supplier, officially announced that it will cut domestic electric vehicle battery production, referring to the slower vehicle sales than planned.

The figure is even extraordinary, according to the Asian Nikkei Report, October 30, quoted from the Teslarati website, where Panasonic plans to cut the production of electric vehicle batteries by as much as 60 percent, citing sales slower than expected for certain Tesla models.

Despite cutting production, Panasonic recorded a record profit of 288 billion yen or 1.9 billion US dollars in the six-month period to September. These profits are also assisted by subsidies in the US for the operation of electric vehicle batteries.

In addition, there are other reasons why battery production will be cut. According to Panasonic CFO Hirokazu Umeda, this is done in the hope of reducing the existing electric vehicle battery stock, and will last until March 2024.

Umeda also stated that Panasonic stopped supplying EV 1865 batteries to Tesla during the Q2 used for the S dah X model, and the company said it plans to use part of the extra capacity to work with other companies. This old battery, according to Umeda, is still used on Tesla Model S and Model X vehicles.

On the other hand, he also mentioned the fact that the company may be looking for additional customers outside the auto industry.

"We are talking to many potential customers," he said.

Currently, domestic electric vehicle battery production represents about 20 percent of Panasonic's total global production. Meanwhile, for factories outside Japan, it will increase production.