Is Panasonic's Tesla Alliance Breaking?

March 21, Saturday, Panasonic released important information. As the outbreak of the coronavirus infection continues, they are suspending collaboration with American automaker Tesla. The firms are collaborating on the development of batteries. The timing is not yet known.

The Japanese brand has been supplying Tesla with electronics, specifically batteries, for some time now. Their production is located in the state of Nevada. Gigafactory-1 will stop making batteries as early as March 23, 2020. After that, production will be closed for 2 weeks.

First-hand information

Panasonic officials declined to say how the shutdown would affect Tesla. On Thursday March 19, Tesla announced that the Nevada plant will continue to operate. However, from March 24, the work of the plant located in San Francisco will be suspended.

Panasonic has detailed information about the situation. Since the employees, namely 3500 people working at the Nevada plant, were affected by the interruption in production, they will be paid their full salary and all benefits during the quarantine. During the forced production break, the plant will be intensively disinfected and cleaned.