Panasonic develops cobalt-free batteries for automobiles to reduce costs and risks

According to foreign media reports, on May 30, local time, Panasonic said it would develop cobalt-free batteries for automobiles in the near future. As an important battery component of electric vehicles, the price of cobalt materials has soared with the development of electric vehicles.

Kenji Tamura, head of Panasonic's battery business, said in a meeting with analysts, "We have dramatically reduced the use of cobalt and hope to achieve cobalt-free batteries in the near future, and research and development is under way." Earlier this month, Tesla said that Model 3's batteries had achieved maximum energy density and could achieve excellent thermal stability on the basis of reducing cobalt content and increasing nickel content.

Yoshio Ito, Panasonic's head of automotive business, revealed that in addition to trying to reduce the rare metal content in batteries, Panasonic also tried to sign contracts with customers in the hope of avoiding the risk of material price hikes.

At the May 30 meeting, Ito said that Panasonic had been working closely with Tesla and was working to increase battery cell capacity, hoping to help Tesla achieve weekly production capacity of 5,000 Model 3 vehicles by the end of June. As the exclusive battery supplier for Tesla Model 3, Panasonic's Super Battery Factory in Nevada jointly produces batteries with Tesla.

At the annual shareholders'meeting held in early May, Panasonic Chief Executive Zinhe Yihong publicly acknowledged for the first time that he would manufacture batteries in China with Tesla. Panasonic plans to shift the focus of its business from low-margin consumer electronics to automotive-related businesses. By the end of March 2022, Panasonic hopes to double its automotive revenue to 2.5 trillion yen, and the battery business is important to achieve that goal. By the end of March 2019, Panasonic hopes its battery sales will boost its operating profit by 11.7% to 425 billion yen ($3.87 billion).

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