Panasonic is bringing a new project to the company’s battery plant in De Soto. Panasonic announced a deal with Amazon-owned Zook for its robo ride-hailing service. The agreement includes an order for the company’s 2,170 battery cells for it’s driverless vehicles. Production will begin in early 2026 according to information from Panasonic. Production is expected to start in Japan and then expand to the Kansas factory soon. Zook launched its service in Las Vegas and recently opened a robotaxi production facility in California to build the driverless vehicles.
Panasonic’s De Soto plant officially opened for business in July. It is the largest electric vehicle battery plant in the United States. The factory site spans 300 acres, big enough to fit over 225 football fields. The company said it’s already invested more than $4 billion into the project and hired over 1,000 workers. The facility is expected to create up to 4,000 jobs by the time it is fully operational in 2027.
