Not to rub it in the faces of Oklahoma leaders who failed to land the $5 billion Panasonic plant more than a year ago, but the plant being constructed near Kansas City is close to actual manufacturing of lithium batteries for electric vehicles.
Another ribbon cutting type ceremony was held last week at the Panasonic De Soto plant where officials are celebrating how the facility is only a few months away from turning out the EV batteries. Readers might recall how Oklahoma and Kansas were the final two competitors to land the plant that brought 3,500 jobs. Kansas won.
Published reports indicate the plant expects to activate the first productionline in its first wing sometime this spring, may be early as late March. The workforce dedicated to construction of the large plant stands at 3,800. But Panasonic leaders indicated they plan to have 1,000 employees on hand for manufacturing by this summer. Eventually, the plant will have a workforce of 4,000.
Alan Swan, president of Panasonic North America, said he still believes there will be growing demand for electric vehicles, despite the move taken by President Trump to end thousands in tax credits for new EV buyers.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly was on hand for the Friday ceremony and noted the plant could bring in more than $500 million a year in labor income for the state. She pointed out that once the De Soto plant is in full operation, it will manufacture 66 batteries a second and that’s enough to power 500,000 EVs a year.
“When finished, this facility will put Kansas at the forefront of sustainable energy and advanced manufacturing,” she said.