The end of Tesla and Panasonic partnership?

There are two questions I’d like to answer in this video: Will we see the end of Tesla’s exclusive partnership with Panasonic Will Tesla buy out Panasonic’s Gigafactory investment of $1.6b and move battery cell production in house? July 21, 2009 Tesla and Panasonic sign initial supply agreement Source: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1318605/000119312510017054/dex1033.htm November 2010 Panasonic invest $30m in common stock Source: http://news.panasonic.net/archives/2010/1104_2629.html October 11, 2011 Tesla and Panasonic extend supply agreement with battery cells for 80,000 vehicles over four years Source: https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/en111011-3/en111011-3.html February 26, 2014 Tesla announces plans for Gigafactory Source: https://www.tesla.com/blog/gigafactory End of Q2 2014 Tesla had produced ~40,000 Model S July 21, 2014 Tesla and Panasonic sign agreement for Giga 1 Source: https://news.panasonic.com/global/press/data/2014/07/en140731-3/en140731-3.html March 21, 2016 Tesla unveils Model 3 Source: https://youtu.be/Q4VGQPk2Dl8 July 30, 2016 Tesla unveils Gigafactory Source: https://youtu.be/U-Szj2qIYX8 July 1, 2018 Panasonic says they would invest more into Giga 1 if Tesla asked Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-panasonic-batteries/panasonic-to-consider-more-investment-in-teslas-gigafactory-if-asked-executive-idUSKBN1JS08J August 2018 Tesla says they are at 20 GWh cell production with a goal to get to 35 GWh by end of year Source: https://ir.tesla.com/static-files/7235e525-db16-470c-8dce-9ecac0ad7712 September 27, 2018 Panasonic says they will add 3 more cell lines to a total of 13 by end of year Source: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-09-26/tesla-gets-panasonic-s-help-with-ahead-of-schedule-battery-plant November 2, 2018 Elon says they will source batteries locally from companies including Panasonic and Lishan Battery (clients: Apple, Samsung, Geely, and Hyundai) Source: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1058459307912552448 Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-china-battery-electric-exclusiv/exclusive-tesla-says-it-received-battery-quotes-from-chinas-lishen-but-no-deal-agreed-idUSKCN1PG098 January 21, 2019 Panasonic and Toyota announce partnership for prismatic batteries Source: https://global.toyota/en/newsroom/corporate/26302587.html February 4, 2019 Maxwell announces merger with Tesla Source: http://investors.maxwell.com/investors/news-and-events/press-releases/press-release-details/2019/Maxwell-Technologies-Announces-Definitive-Merger-Agreement-with-Tesla-Inc/default.aspx April 11, 2019 Nikkei reports that Panasonic will not be making any new investments in Giga 1 and 3 Source: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Tesla-and-Panasonic-freeze-spending-on-4.5bn-Gigafactory April 13, 2019 Elon Musk says Panasonic is only producing 24 GWh/year Source: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1117144865299501056 Source: https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1117347290585243648 April 24, 2019 Panasonic considers converting Japanese 18650 line to 2170 for Model 3 to go into affect March 2020 Source: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-tesla-panasonic/panasonic-may-upgrade-japan-plant-to-make-advanced-tesla-batteries-source-idUSKCN1S1087 Take aways Tesla and Panasonic no longer has an exclusive agreement to work together Panasonic could not fully fulfill 35 GWh of cell production Tesla appears to be working with other cell suppliers like Lishen Battery This does indicate the end of Tesla and Panasonic’s exclusive agreement. One question: Where does Maxwell acquisition fit into the mix? I had originally toyed around with the idea of Tesla buying out Panasonic at Giga 1 and getting even more vertical with battery cell production. Though this could be a potential in the future, however, in order for this to happen Tesla would need to execute on the Maxwell acquisition and assume that their tech can sustain high volume production. Tesla referral code: http://ts.la/sean510 Become a Patreon supporter: https://www.patreon.com/seanmmitchell Like Tesla: http://www.youtube.com/LikeTesla Now You Know: https://www.youtube.com/nowyouknowchannel Hyperchange: TV https://www.youtube.com/hyperchangetv Teslanomics: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbEbf0-PoSuHD0TgMbxomDg #Tesla #Panasonic #ElonMusk