Panasonic to break ground on new Johnson County electric vehicle battery plant Wednesday
Panasonic will begin construction on a $4 billion electronic vehicle battery plant in DeSoto next month.
The company, which announced in July that it would come to Kansas, will formally break ground on Wednesday in a ceremony not open to the public. The plant will be housed at the former Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant South of K-10.
Kansas won the deal with Panasonic after extended negotiations and a bidding war with Oklahoma. In order to win the deal Kansas lawmakers passed the biggest incentive program in state history into law to win the project.
Kansas committed $829 million in incentives for the project. Panasonic estimated the project would bring 4,000 permanent jobs to the state but the incentive agreement included no wage or hiring requirements.
According to Kansas Department of Commerce officials, it is the biggest economic development project in state history. Panasonic said Monday mass production of batteries in DeSoto is expected to begin in 2025.
This story was originally published October 31, 2022 at 1:49 PM with the headline "Panasonic to break ground on new Johnson County electric vehicle battery plant Wednesday."
