Subaru to get electric batteries from Panasonic

Japanese automakers Subaru and Panasonic, also a Japanese company, announced Tuesday an agreement that will allow the former to source materials from the end-cylinder batteries of electric vehicles. The two groups did not immediately provide many details about the agreement. They announced last summer that they had begun discussions on the possibility “medium or long term cooperation» in the battery. Subaru launched its first 100% electric model last year, the Solterra SUV, and the manufacturer wants to reach 50% of its global sales with electric vehicles by 2030.

Panasonic, which is the main supplier of electric batteries to US-based Tesla, also started similar discussions last year with Mazda, another major Japanese carmaker. Earlier in March, car giant Toyota announced that it will increase its stake in Primeearth EV Energy (PEVE), a hybrid vehicle battery joint venture it had set up, to 100%. has been a majority shareholder since 2005. PEVE will now also produce batteries for 100% electric vehicles and for plug-in hybrids, Toyota said in early March.

Since 2020, Toyota and Panasonic have also had another joint venture in lithium-ion batteries, called Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (PPES), and it is currently 51% owned by the car giant. Although some of its representatives such as Nissan were pioneers in electric technology, the Japanese car industry was slow to fully launch in this segment which has exploded in recent years in China, but also now in Europe and the United States. Both struggling in China in particular, Nissan and Honda announced last Friday that they are considering entering into a “strategic partnership” in the electric sector to try to speed up their shift towards this segment has become important.