Panasonic said this week in its earnings report that it is ramping up battery production at Gigafactory 1, its joint venture with Tesla.
“We are quickly ramping up battery production (at the Gigafactory), but improvements in production efficiency have been delayed,” Chief Financial Officer Hirokazu Umeda said in a briefing Thursday.
Umeda added that Gigafactory 1 is expected start making profits at least on a monthly basis, by March. The company was also encouraged by Tesla’s surprise profit in Q3. “That’s positive for us,” Umeda said.
While Panasonic has long been Tesla’s battery supplier, news circulated in August that Tesla contracted LG to supply batteries for vehicles built at its plant in Shanghai. And, LG has reportedly ramped up production of battery cells to support the agreement.
There have also been reports that Tesla is operating a secret research and development facility where it aims to build its own battery cells.