Panasonic, a Japanese company, is the latest company joining the high-growth electric vehicles market, with plans to invest nearly $4.9 billion in automotive batteries, and cyber physical systems, among others.

According to the Japanese company, in a bid to achieve its future goals, the group is set to invest 400 billion yen (nearly $3.26 billion) in “growth areas” and 200 billion yen (about $1.63 billion) in “technology pillars” in three years, from 2023 to 2025.

Panasonic noted in a statement that, as part of the company’s medium and long-term growth strategy, it has renewed its commitment “to invest in automotive battery area, supply chain software area, air quality and air conditioning area, hydrogen energy and CPS (cyber physical system).”

“While maintaining financial discipline, the group is to make group-wide strategic investments with the cash generated through enhancement of competitiveness, as well as the investments made by each operating company.”
Panasonic

Panasonic’s Profit Target

Panasonic disclosed that it is targeting an accumulated operating profit of 1.5 trillion yen over the three year period. The group also aims to reduce the impact of over 300 million tonnes of CO2, “which equal to approximately 1 per cent of total global emissions (as of today [2022]) by 2050.”

The company, which is the pioneer in the automotive battery segment, has been leading the industry through constant refinement and it is now on the cusp of yet another evolution. Meanwhile, electric vehicles (EVs) have a growing presence all over the world. Helping to power the ever-increasing number of EVs on the roads is Panasonic’s cylindrical automotive battery business.

The company indicated that Panasonic’s cylindrical lithium-ion batteries were originally designed to deliver outstanding longevity and light weight to notebook PCs, but the emergence of demand for automotive use batteries in the late 2000s led to the development of Panasonic’s automotive battery business. It stated that although the performance requirements for this new application was a challenge, “the company drew on decades of experience producing various types of batteries, and in 2017, we commissioned a manufacturing plant for cylindrical automotive batteries in North America.”

Panasonic’s Efficient Battery System to Power EVs

Panasonic further revealed that it is currently working on two types of cylindrical automotive batteries: the 1865 and 2170. The company explained that the first two digits indicate diameter (18mm/21mm) and the second two indicate height (65mm/70mm). The latest models boast the world’s highest level of energy density.

“We started researching lithium-ion batteries in the 1980s, and since then have been keenly aware of the need to address the issue of rare metals. Our goal from day one was to minimize the amount of cobalt used for automotive batteries.”
Panasonic

The company asserted that one key to achieving high energy density is improving the chemical composition of the active materials (the materials that store electricity) in the cathode and anode so that more electricity can be stored. “Another is increasing the amount of active material within the limited space of each battery. In both areas, Panasonic has leveraged on technological know-how to achieve the highest level of performance.”

Last year, the company closed a $7 billion acquisition deal with supply chain AI software provider Blue Yonder. Earlier, Panasonic formed a joint venture with Toyota that specialises in automotive batteries.