Tesla battery supplier Panasonic is feeling pressure to expedite electric vehicle (EV) cell production at its Kansas plant.  

Panasonic’s main customer, Tesla, is reportedly urging the battery supplier to step up its game due to growing demand for EV cell production in the United States. The push underscores Tesla’s strategic pivot to bolster U.S.-based battery supply chains during trade challenges.

According to the Financial Times, Panasonic CEO Yuki Kusumi noted that its primary customer is pressing for a faster start at the company’s De Soto, Kansas facility in a Tokyo interview with foreign media. Panasonic’s battery facility in Kansas has been under construction since 2022.

“As we’ve been told by our customer to get Kansas moving quickly, we’re hurrying to do so…There are risks, but we are planning on robust demand for batteries from our main customer as of now,” Kusumi said.

The recent U.S.-China tariff truce eased broader tensions, but left EV battery tariffs untouched. These persistent tariffs, alongside other U.S. measures, appear to be prompting Tesla to lean on Panasonic’s Kansas plant, which is set to boost the company’s U.S. production capacity by 60% by March 2027. Panasonic’s long-standing partnership with Tesla underscores its critical role in the US EV market.

Tesla addressed battery supply concerns in its latest earnings call.

“We’ve been working very hard to expand battery cell production in the US, both with vendors and what Bonnie mentioned earlier with the 4680 program. And we’re also working on moving the upstream supply chain for battery cells to the United States for several years. And that strategy is really starting to pay off now,” said Karn Buhiraj, Tesla VP of Supply Chain.

“As it stands right now, we’re not constrained on battery cell supply for vehicles. The recent tariffs do pose some challenges to Tesla Energy, well, like our CFO mentioned earlier, but it’s something we’ve been anticipating and we should be able to resolve in a timely fashion,” he added.

As Panasonic ramps Kansas operations, Tesla’s pivot to domestic batteries strengthens its resilience against trade barriers, positioning both companies to capitalize on the demand for affordable EVs while navigating a complex tariff landscape.

A Tesla VP recently shared some key insights about Optimus’ latest dance demonstrations. Tesla showcased Optimus’ dance moves in two demonstrations this week, with its second demo becoming a shock to many.

Optimus Demonstrations

Optimus’ initial demonstration this week featured the humanoid robot performing a number of rhythmic actions. As per Tesla Vice President of Optimus (Tesla Bot) Milan Kovac, the humanoid robot’s movements were trained in simulation. He also explained that the cable, which could be seen attached at the back of Optimus, was simply there in case of a fall.

Interestingly enough, a follow-up video demonstration featuring Optimus performing even more advanced rhythmic movements was posted by CEO Elon Musk on social media platform X on Tuesday. In this demo, Optimus could be seen performing ballet and modern dance moves. Unlike the previous demonstration, Optimus was completely untethered this time around. Elon Musk stated in a follow-up post on X that Optimus should eventually be able to do ballet movements perfectly. 

What the Optimus VP Says

Kovac has provided some key insights on Optimus’ second demonstration for the week. As per the Tesla executive, the movements of the humanoid robot in the video were in real-time. The demonstration was also fully learned in simulation and zero-shot transferred to real without extra training.

“Here’s a little more, and no cables this time. It’s all real-time speed, zero CGI, fully learned in simulation & zero-shot transferred to real. Besides the fact that it’s fun, we had to make significant improvements to our robot model in Sim, domain randomization and other techniques which will directly transfer to more practical situations as well (robust walking, and agile full-body control in general).

“We also learned quite a few things on our hardware and tuned our power profile. I hope it is getting pretty clear that Tesla is much more than an amazing car (!) company: it’s the place to be for transformational real-world AI,” Kovac wrote in his post on X.

Two Tesla Cybertruck police vehicles accompanied United States President Donald Trump’s motorcade during his visit to Doha, Qatar’s capital, on Wednesday.

The two Tesla Cybertrucks stood out in the motorcade, thanks to their iconic light bar and their imposing presence.

Trump’s Qatar Visit

Qatar is the second of three Middle Eastern countries expected to be visited by Trump this week. So far, Trump has been received warmly, with Qatar providing Air Force One with an eight-fighter jet escort. Saudi Arabia, which hosted Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk earlier this week, also provided Air Force One with a six-fighter jet escort.

Qatar seemed determined to roll out the red carpet for the U.S. President, as hinted at by the curated police escort for Trump’s motorcade to the Amiri Diwan in Doha. Tesla CEO Elon Musk seemed excited to see his vehicles being used in the Middle Eastern country, writing “Cybertrucks escorting @POTUS!” on X.

Cybertrucks Police Vehicles in Qatar

Qatar seems to have a soft spot for the Cybertruck, even before Trump’s visit. In late December, social media posts from the country suggested that two Cybertrucks are being used as part of the Internal Security Force’s (Lekhwiya) patrol fleet. The futuristic all-electric pickup trucks have also been spotted in several other areas of the country.

The Qatar Ministry of Interior also posted a video featuring veteran Tesla tuner Unplugged Performance CEO Ben Schaffer, who noted that UP.FIT will be providing modified Cybertrucks for the country. As could be seen in the video, Unplugged Performance and the Ministry of Interior have signed a Letter of Intent to pave the way for UP.FIT Cybertrucks to be made for Qatar.