Updated October 10, 2026 Kansas is operating. Data-center batteries are the next production test. Panasonic Energy's story now extends beyond supplying electric vehicles. Its De Soto, Kansas, factory is already producing automotive cells, while a planned shift of some capacity toward data-center batteries ties the same manufacturing base to AI infrastructure demand. These are two separate milestones: operating EV production today and a planned new battery application later. Panasonic announced the start of mass production in Kansas on July 14, 2025 , with a target annual capacity of 32 GWh. The factory's initial automotive product is the 2170 cylindrical cell. The earlier version of this profile incorrectly described Kansas as a delayed, not-yet-operating 4680 project. A slower ramp to full capacity is not the same as a factory that has not opened. The data-center plan has a later timetable In June 17 reporting published by KCUR and originally produced by Kansas Reflector , Panasonic said its first Kansas data-center battery cells were anticipated in mid-to-late 2028 or early 2029. The company described planning as being in its beginning stages and said EV battery production would continue. That timetable is a company expectation, not evidence that data-center cells are already shipping from Kansas. The same report quoted Panasonic as saying Kansas had 1,800 employees and four operating production lines at that time. Those are June 2026 observations, not a fresh October headcount. Panasonic said the automotive ramp would follow customer demand. Its planned data-center cell production was part of a roughly $2.18 billion global investment, rather than a commitment to spend that entire amount in Kansas. The manufacturing plan also reaches beyond one U.S. site. At its June investor event, management described repurposing Japanese automotive lines for data-center applications, preparing Kansas capacity and expanding module plants in Mexico. Panasonic's own strategy overview identifies businesses supporting AI infrastructure as a growth driver through the fiscal year ending March 2029. The practical challenge is to coordinate cell output, module assembly and customer qualification, not simply announce more factory floor space. What the latest disclosures do and do not establish Panasonic Group released its first-quarter FY2027 results on July 30, 2026. Its results overview reports a higher full-year outlook amid growing AI-infrastructure-related demand. That is a group-level update, not a substitute for Panasonic Energy segment results. Panasonic explicitly defines FY2027 there as the year ending March 31, 2027, a useful distinction when comparing coverage that labels fiscal years differently. On September 30, Panasonic Energy released its Integrated Report 2026 , covering strategy, business performance, financial position and sustainability. Its release announcement describes new divisional growth-strategy messages but does not announce an earlier Kansas data-center production date. The historical FY2025 figures retained below should therefore be read as a dated baseline, not the company's latest financial results. The milestones worth watching Product qualification: a named application and qualified customer matter more than a general AI demand forecast. Capacity allocation: the 32 GWh Kansas target does not mean 32 GWh of data-center cells is operating or contracted. Timing and economics: watch for confirmed equipment conversion, first commercial shipments and segment profitability before treating planned diversification as delivered earnings. For storage buyers, the distinction is equally important. Data-center battery cells and modules are not automatically a turnkey, multi-hour grid battery system. Project duration, power rating, thermal design, controls and warranties still have to be established for the intended installation. Panasonic's opportunity is real, but factory operating status, future production plans and end-use system performance should not be conflated. For most companies, a hundred years in business means a century of gradual adaptation. For Panasonic Energy, it means a century of building the exact expertise the world now desperately needs. The company that made batteries for bicycle lamps in 1923 is now a longstanding supplier of cylindrical lithium-ion cells to Tesla, the most talked-about automaker on earth. That continuity is not an accident. Formally spun out as an independent operating company under Panasonic Holdings in April 2022, Panasonic Energy carries the full weight of its parent's battery heritage into a moment when EV adoption, grid storage, and consumer electronics are converging into one enormous demand signal. With 873.2 billion yen in revenue for FY2025 (ending March 31, 2025), the company sits near the top of the global battery industry despite a year marked by slower-than-expected EV sales and a notable pullback from its biggest customer. The story of Panasonic Energy is ultimately a story about focus. While rivals diversified into solar panels, displays, and consumer appliances, Panasonic's battery division kept doubling down on electrochemistry. That bet is now paying off, in yen, in patents, and in its automotive cell factories and planned next-generation battery programs. AI-generated image Automated robotic assembly of cylindrical lithium-ion cells at a Panasonic Energy production facility. 1923 Battery origins 873.2B FY2025 revenue (yen) 13.8% Operating margin FY2025 3 Cell formats (18650/2170/4680) ~$5.8B USD equivalent revenue +28% Industrial segment growth A Century of Cells: Panasonic's Battery Origins In 1923, Konosuke Matsushita's company introduced a battery designed to keep bicycle lamps lit longer than the competition. It was a modest product by any measure, but it established the core principle that still defines Panasonic Energy: build a battery that outlasts and outperforms what came before. Through the mid-20th century, the company expanded its dry cell and primary battery business steadily across Japan and then globally. By the time cylindrical lithium-ion chemistry arrived in the early 1990s, Panasonic (then still branded Matsushita in many markets) had the manufacturing discipline and materials science expertise to move fast. Mass production of cylindrical Li-ion cells began in 1994 , making Panasonic one of the earliest volume producers of the format that would go on to define portable electronics and, later, electric vehicles. The 18650 cell, named for its 18mm diameter and 65mm length, became the workhorse of the industry. Laptops, power tools, early EVs, and industrial equipment all ran on versions of it. Panasonic built its manufacturing infrastructure around this cylinder, and that decision compounded over decades into an unmatched depth of process knowledge. When Panasonic Holdings reorganized its operating businesses in April 2022, it gave the battery unit its own identity: Panasonic Energy Co., Ltd., headquartered in Moriguchi-shi, Osaka. CEO Kazuo Tadanobu inherited not just a manufacturing operation but a century of institutional knowledge about how to make electrochemical cells that are dense, reliable, and consistent at scale. That heritage is the foundation on which everything else in the company's current strategy rests. Historical context: Panasonic's cylindrical battery manufacturing traces back to 1923. By 1994, the company was mass-producing lithium-ion cells commercially, giving it a 30-year head start on many of today's EV battery challengers in cylindrical cell manufacturing expertise. The Tesla Partnership That Changed Everything Around 2008, Tesla was a startup with a Roadster and a big vision, searching for a battery supplier willing to commit to something far outside the comfort zone of incumbent automakers. Panasonic said yes. That decision, made when Tesla had virtually no revenue and considerable doubt surrounding its survival, is now the defining commercial re