TOKYO-- Panasonic Corp. expects to invest more than Yen30 billion ($260 million) in a Buffalo, N.Y., plant that will make photovoltaic cells and modules for Tesla Motors Inc., Panasonic said Tuesday.
Tesla said in October that it would work with Panasonic in completing the Buffalo plant, which originally was to be a SolarCity Corp. manufacturing plant. Tesla completed its acquisition of SolarCity in November.
Tesla said Tuesday that it is reaffirming its commitment to create more than 1,400 jobs in Buffalo, including more than 500 manufacturing jobs. Tesla's agreement with Panasonic calls for the Japanese company to cover capital costs in Buffalo, while Tesla will make a long-term purchase commitment from Panasonic.
In presentation materials, Panasonic said it expects its total investment in the Buffalo plant to exceed Yen30 billion. It said it expected the plant to open in the summer of 2017 and ramp up to 1 gigawatt of module production by 2019. |