Panasonic recently announced that the company is set to invest US$4 billion for its second EV (Electric Vehicle) battery factory in Kansas for Tesla, according to Nikkei Asia on August 16. Combined with favorable tax policies, the new factory is projected to boost production capacity of EV batteries for Tesla by about 10% by 2024. The company has already run its first EV battery factory in the United States with Tesla in Nevada since 2014. Sales of the Tesla EVs have been growing steadily, with about 936,000 EVs sold in 2021 alone. Following its Gigafactory Shanghai reaching one-millionth EV, Tesla recently opened its second factory in Texas, which is close to Panasonic's new battery factory. To tap the rising demand for EVs, Panasonic strives to boost its EV battery capacity by three- or four-folds by 2028, up from the current 50 gigawatt-hours per year. According to the plan, it will set up two production lines for 80 billion Yen (US$580 million) to produce EV batteries in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan, in 2023.

According to MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute), sales of global EVs are forecasted to increase significantly from 11 million units in 2020 to between 145 million and 230 million units in 2030 and grow at 30% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) in 2020-2030.  Established in 1987, MIC is a division of III (Institute for Information Industry), a major government think tank, and one of the leading IT research institutes in Taiwan.