Simon Moores on the Tesla Motors-Panasonic Partnership

Panasonic Corp. (TSE:6752) and Tesla Motors Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) announced today in a joint statement that they have signed an agreement to cooperate on the construction of Tesla’s much-discussed lithium-ion battery gigafactory.

As quoted in the press release:

According to the agreement, Tesla will prepare, provide and manage the land, buildings and utilities. Panasonic will manufacture and supply cylindrical lithium-ion cells and invest in the associated equipment, machinery, and other manufacturing tools based on their mutual approval. A network of supplier partners is planned to produce the required precursor materials. Tesla will take the cells and other components to assemble battery modules and packs. To meet the projected demand for cells, Tesla will continue to purchase battery cells produced in Panasonic’s factories inJapan. Tesla and Panasonic will continue to discuss the details of implementation including sales, operations and investment.

The Gigafactory is being created to enable a continuous reduction in the cost of long range battery packs in parallel with manufacturing at the volumes required to enable Tesla to meet its goal of advancing mass market electric vehicles. The Gigafactory will be managed by Tesla with Panasonic joining as the principle partner responsible for lithium-ion battery cells and occupying approximately half of the planned manufacturing space; key suppliers combined with Tesla’s module and pack assembly will comprise the other half of this fully integrated industrial complex.

Learn more about the agreement and what it means for lithium, cobalt and graphite in this research note from analyst Simon Moores:

Click here to view the research note online.