Quietly, Panasonic Becomes a Major Player in Electric Cars
TOKYO, JAPAN -- With steady progress in lithium-ion battery development for electric cars, as well as chargers (both 220 and fast 480 volts), under-the-hood battery management, and even seat heaters, Panasonic is partnering with Toyota and Tesla, among others, and is quietly becoming a major player in EVs. Since Toyota and Tesla are themselves intertwined, it's becoming an interesting international collaboration.
Naoto Noguchi, the president of Panasonic's Energy Company, told me that new cell advances in weight and energy density make crossing the 300-mile range barrier a possibility soon, with advanced cells offering an impressive four amp-hours in two years. Noguchi san fondly recalls his eye-popping drive in a Tesla Roadster in San Francisco, and encounters with founder Elon Musk at Space X, but Panasonic's relationship with Tesla is public only because Tesla publicized it. This is one discreet company.
I spoke to Noguchi as Panasonic was taking an 80 percent share of Sanyo, which has its own lithium-ion battery business. Panasonic will eventually fully absorb the Sanyo brand, but it may have some life in the short term. The combination strengthens Panasonic's hand in the battery space.
Panasonic is going green, but it is making the business case for the transition. The vision is based around lithium-ion batteries, but a lifestyle built around an EV in the garage is helping the company transition from an emphasis on home electronics. Americans may know Panasonic best for its portable audio players and turntables, but that business is come and gone -- and Apple has most of it. These days, Panasonic plugs in.
Panasonic touts its achievements, but it doesn't like to talk about who's buying them. On Tuesday at the huge CEATEC electronics show in Tokyo, Panasonic showed off its Home Energy Management System for the smart-grid-connected family home of the future, which (as Panasonic demonstrates at its Eco Ideas House), uses a fuel cell, lithium-ion battery and rooftop solar panel to achieve zero emission and recharge a Toyota plug-in hybrid. The system is being tested in Denmark. On Thursday, Panasonic's single biggest customer, Toyota, revealed its own Smart Center, which does pretty much the same thing.
If Panasonic's technology is working behind the scenes (and my guess is that it is), the company wasn't saying, and an Osaka interview with Noguchi failed to make the relationship clear. It's the way this supplier prefers to work -- behind the scenes.
"Toyota has been our partner for many years," Noguchi said. "Naturally, we collaborate in this area as well. Every customer is very important, and they are a big customer." He says more on the video here, but is always cautious about customers:
It's a strong possibility Panasonic cells will be in the battery packs of the forthcoming Tesla Model S, as well as in Toyota's plug-in hybrid, and future battery electric city car. In Japan, Panasonic is trying to sell the concept of the battery car as integrated into the smart grid, and part of a holistic renewable energy system. Nearly every part of that system is made by Panasonic, including the lithium-ion storage battery that captures energy from the solar panels (also Panasonic-built) during the day and disperses it at night.
And also part of Panasonic's vision is the home fuel cell, and that's moved beyond the conceptual stage. The one-kilowatt cells cost a whopping $34,000 to power 60 percent of the average Japanese family's home, but Panasonic has sold 2,000 so far with the help of an approximately $13,000 government subsidy. It plans to increase production next year.
The fuel cell customer won't save money anytime soon: The unit saves $500 a year in electricity costs, and has a lifetime of only about 10 years. But it makes zero emission living possible, and that seems increasingly important to the Japanese. The green theme permeated the CEATEC show, among the 3D televisions and new tablet PCs. Panasonic likes making your eyes pop, and I donned the 3D glasses with everyone else. But its real achievements are less flashy.
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Photo: Tesla