Art Wheaton, automotive industry expert and senior extension associate with Cornell University’s ILR School, notes that the Panasonic-Tesla partnership in battery manufacturing is a good move for the electronic automaker, but not a big deal for the overall U.S. auto industry.
Wheaton says:
“This report is good news for Tesla, but not a significant development for the auto industry.
“Tesla is currently capacity constrained in the building of new cars. Tesla uses lots of batteries in their vehicles and more companies are building hybrids using Lithium-ion batteries.
“Overall there is a lot of capacity to build batteries in the U.S. but the extra costs for hybrid systems has hurt their sales. This Panasonic deal for Tesla is good news since they can be assured of a steady supply of batteries at hopefully reduced costs.”
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