Panasonic announced on Wednesday that it would commence operations between the April to September timeframe in 2024, later than originally planned, and delay the commercial manufacturing of its 4680 battery cells, championed by Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Panasonic, a Japanese supplier to Tesla, had previously anticipated beginning mass manufacturing for Tesla between April 2023 and March 2024.

“Mass production rescheduled to begin during 1H FY3/25 to introduce performance improvement measures that will further enhance competitiveness,” Panasonic said on its earnings presentation materials, referring to the first half of the fiscal year ending March 2025.

While Tesla already manufactures the 4680 battery cells, which Musk has hailed as essential to creating more affordable and enticing electric vehicles, Panasonic is operating a trial 4680 production line at its Wakayama factory in Japan. However, the automaker had trouble achieving its goals for cell output and performance.

During a recent conference call, Tesla executive Drew Baglino stated that the business intends to gradually increase manufacturing of 4680 battery cells prior to the manufacture of Cybertruck next year. Currently, a base Model Y from Tesla uses the cells.

By the end of 2022, Tesla, which produces 4680 battery cells at its facilities in Texas and California, claimed it would be able to supply more than 1,000 cars every week, or approximately one-fifth of the Texas facility’s yearly production capacity.

LG Energy Solution, a South Korean supplier to Tesla, announced last month that it will install a new 4680 production line at its home factory by the end of this year, although it did not specify when the batteries would begin to be produced in large quantities.

(Adapted from Electrek.co)