Panasonic leads Japan's EV battery comeback plan with U.S. push
DE SOTO, U.S. -- Rick Walker, mayor of De Soto, Kansas, can barely contain his excitement about the vast U-shaped factory going up on his city's outskirts. Overhung with cranes and buzzing with over a thousand workers, the plant is being built by Panasonic Energy, a Japanese maker of batteries for electric vehicles and a major supplier to Tesla.