Report: Tesla Signs Panasonic Battery Joint Venture Pact

Tesla Motors Inc.

inked a joint venture agreement with Panasonic Corp. for Tesla's so-called Gigafactory electric car battery plant in the U.S., according to a Japanese new service. Tesla traded recently at $229.10, up 2.5 percent. Nikkei Asian Review reported Monday that Panasonic will initially invest $194 million to $291 billion, with the amount to rise eventually to as much as $1 billion with the total cost of the factory to reach as much as $5 billion. An announcement of the deal will be made by the end of July, the news service said, although cited no sources. Tesla's Chief Executive Elon Musk has previously said Panasonic would be a logical partner for the project, but his Panasonic counterpart Kazuhiro Tsuga has reportedly been hesitant. Panasonic acquired a 2 percent stake in Tesla in 2010 and has made batteries for the company since 2011. In October Panasonic agreed to provide 2 billion batteries to Tesla by 2017. Tesla is expected to begin construction this year with production expected by 2017. The long-term aim is provide batteries for 500,000 cars annually by 2020.