Panasonic reveals Kansas as site for $4B EV battery megafactory

The state wooed Panasonic with a major incentive package in hopes of kick-starting a regional hub for electric vehicles, batteries and adjacent tech.

The Tesla Gigafactory while under construction east of Reno, Nevada in March 2015. Panasonic's new EV battery factory slated for construction in Kansas is expected to be of a similar size. (David Calvert/The Washington Post via Getty Images)

Written by Shel Evergreen. Published by Canary Media July 22, 2022.

Kansas won big in a deal announced by Panasonic Energy of North America last week for what will be the largest economic development project in the history of the state. The company has chosen Kansas as the location for a new multibillion-dollar megafactory that will produce lithium-ion batteries for Tesla and other vehicle manufacturers.

Once the project is officially approved by the company’s board, building will begin at a site in De Soto, in the eastern part of the state near Kansas City, Missouri. Ground has already been broken to prepare the location for construction, said Paul Hughes, deputy secretary for business development in the Kansas Department of Commerce. He thinks the ​“shell” of the 4-million-square-foot facility could be ready by next fall, at which point the manufacturing equipment will be brought in. ​“This is the first stand-alone, nothing-but-batteries facility that Panasonic’s ever built in the United States, and it will be the largest in the world,” Hughes said...

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