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Tesla, Panasonic to set up lithium-ion battery plant in U.S.(Japan Economic Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) NEW YORK, Feb. 26 -- (Kyodo) _ Tesla Motors Inc. said Wednesday it will set up a new plant in the United States with Panasonic Corp. to produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles. A total of $4 billion to $5 billion will be invested in the plant, which is expected to go into operation in 2017 and produce batteries for 500,000 EVs after 2020. Tesla is expected to invest about $2 billion while the rest will be funded by Panasonic among others. The U.S. EV manufacturer and the Japanese electronics maker aim to reduce the battery cost through mass-production at the plant, which is likely to be built in Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico or Texas. (c) 2014 Kyodo News International, Inc. |