Panasonic won’t be building batteries in Oklahoma
The Oklahoma Voice quotes an email from Panasonic spokesperson Alison Klooster, who said Friday that the company will not build a multibillion-dollar battery plant at Pryor’s MidAmerica Industrial Park.
“In April 2023, we entered into an agreement with the state of Oklahoma to explore building a factory in the state, with the understanding that we would make a decision about whether or not to move forward at the end of that exploratory process,” Klooster wrote. “After careful deliberations, we have made the decision not to move forward with developing the site.”
Klooster did not say why Panasonic is no longer considering the site. She said that decisions about where to build new facilities are complex and based on a wide range of factors.
Oklahoma would have been one of many factories for Panasonic in North America. The company famously manufactures 2170 cells at Gigafactory 1 in Nevada jointly with Tesla and reportedly began constructing a new factory in Kansas in late 2022. The company will produce round cells in the 2170 format starting in March 2025.
Panasonic announced in May this year that it wanted to build at least two new factories to produce 4680 battery cells in North America by 2030. However, the locations have yet to be decided. Oklahoma was under discussion as another potential location for a Panasonic battery factory until the current cancellation. In April, US media reported that Panasonic could set up battery plants for large round cells in North America with Stellantis and BMW.
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