Musk Says Panasonic Battery Cell Lines Constraining Tesla Output

(Bloomberg) -- Tesla Inc.’s Elon Musk said Panasonic Corp. cell lines at the electric-car maker’s Nevada battery factory have been holding up production of its Model 3 sedans.

“Pana cell lines at Giga are only at ~24GWh/yr & have been a constraint on Model 3 output since July,” Musk wrote in a tweet Saturday. “Tesla won’t spend money on more capacity until existing lines get closer to 35GWh.”

Tesla shares tumbled Thursday after the Nikkei reported that the company and Panasonic were freezing plans to expand capacity at the plant near Reno. The newspaper said that because sales of electric vehicles have been below plans, the two companies decided major additional investment now posed too much of a risk.

Panasonic didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

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