Mazda Builds A New Battery Manufacturing Plant

More than two years ago, it was already pretty clear that Mazda would be partnering with Panasonic for so-called cylindrical lithium-ion battery cells. Now, things are much more concrete. Panasonic will indeed supply such battery cells to Mazda, and Mazda will prepare them for use in electric cars.

The project will take place at a new facility in Iwakuni, southeast of Hiroshima. The plant is scheduled to be operational in 2027 and will ultimately be able to produce 10 GWh of battery capacity annually. This equates to enough battery packs for, for example, 100,000 cars with a 100 kWh battery pack.

Mazda is developing its own EVs based on a modular EV platform. The first model based on this platform is expected to appear sometime in the next two years. Given the opening of the new battery factory in 2027, that could very well be the year. Mazda aims for at least a quarter of its sales to consist of fully electric cars by 2030, and by then, it will have an EV in its product range across all its current segments. So, a lot is happening.

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