Japan’s Panasonic Holdings, a battery supplier to electric vehicle maker Tesla, said it is considering building a battery plant in Oklahoma, its third in the United States, Reuters news report said.
Panasonic has entered into an agreement with the State of Oklahoma that defines the eligibility and terms of the incentives under Oklahoma’s LEAD Act. Oklahoma is offering incentive package to attract major companies to its MidAmerica Industrial Park in Pryor.
Panasonic’s decision to consider Oklahoma comes amid surging sales for electric vehicles, and other EV makers besides longtime customer Tesla are looking to the Japanese conglomerate as a possible battery supplier.
Panasonic is in talks with other Stellantis and BMW for building a new EV plant in North America, the Wall Street journal reported this month.
The Japanese company in July rejected Oklahoma as the site for its second EV battery plant, picking Kansas instead to make batteries for Tesla. State officials there said that investment of up to $4 billion will create up to 4,000 jobs.