tesla, panasonic to seek productivity gains before new battery investments - energy storage companies

Tokyo/Bangalore (Reuters)-
Panasonic and Tesla will continue to make new investments in the United States. S.
Tesla said on Thursday that electric car manufacturers have gigabit factories as needed, but believe they can squeeze more out of existing resources.
In addition, Panasonic said it was looking at the demand for electric vehicles ahead of further investment in expanding the capacity of the Nevada plant.
The two companies responded to a report from Japan's Nikkei News that said they had frozen plans to boost capacity at factories that had previously provided battery packs for Tesla cars.
"Both Tesla and Panasonic will continue to invest a lot of money in Geely's factory," a Tesla spokesman said . ".
"That is, we believe that improving existing production equipment will yield more output than previously estimated.
Nikkei did not disclose details of the source, reporting that financial problems caused the two companies to reconsider plans to increase Geely's factory capacity by another 50% next year.
According to The Daily Economic News, the two companies have invested $4 together.
5 billion, and plans to expand the capacity of the plant to 54 gigawatts (GWh)
From the current 35 GWh to the year of 2020.
A source familiar with Tesla's plans said that 35 GWh capacity can produce about 500,000 electric vehicle batteries per year, this means that the planned expansion will allow the capacity of about 770,000 electric vehicles to be sufficient.
"Panasonic built 35 GWh battery production capacity at Tesla's gigabit Plant 1 by the end of March 2019, according to growing demand," Japan-
Panasonic said in an email.
"Looking at the demand situation, Panasonic will work with Tesla to study additional investments over 35 GWh.
"Neither company has released their detailed future development plans for the site, although Panasonic said in October that it is negotiating to increase its investment and take over 35 GWh capacity. Tesla slid 2.
Shares of Panasonic rose 2 on Nasdaq 8% on Thursday.
Trade in Tokyo at noon on Friday was 6%.
"Panasonic's stock has been dragged down by Tesla's woes," said Masayuki Otani, chief market analyst at Japanese securities.
"Being cautious about further investment is good for Panasonic.
This helps the company reduce the impact of Tesla.
"Panasonic is Tesla's exclusive battery supplier, and Tesla is Panasonic's largest battery customer for electric vehicles.
On February, Tesla said it had agreed to buy American companies. S.
Energy storage company Maxwell technology sent Panasonic shares lower.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk also said on November that,S.
The company will produce all battery modules and battery packs at the new Shanghai plant and plans to diversify the sources.
Nikkei News reported that Panasonic will also suspend its investment plan for Tesla's new Shanghai plant, instead providing technical support and a small number of batteries from Geely's factory.
The Japanese company said in October that it would give priority to building capacity at Geely's plant, not in China. Lower-than-
Earlier this month, Tesla's expected first-quarter car delivery spooked stock and bond investors, adding to Wall Street's concerns about its future cash flow.
Tesla is expected to report first
Quarterly earnings for April 24.