Tesla partner Panasonic announces software deal with Palantir

Sep 21, 2023

Tesla partner Panasonic's Northern Nevada battery factory is poised to get "smarter" after the company finalized a deal with a Denver-based software company.

Panasonic Energy of Northern America announced an agreement with Palantir on Wednesday to further streamline and integrate its factory operations just east of Reno.

The deal leverages a "smart factory" platform from Palantir called Foundry. The technology helps improve efficiencies in manufacturing through automation and faster, real-time data processing.

Examples of technologies used by Palantir include artificial intelligence and "edge computing," which refers to processing done closer to the data source to improve speed and response times.

The technology is already paying dividends for Panasonic by connecting previously disparate operations at its Northern Nevada factory, which has helped reduce issues such as inaccurate data analysis.

"We were able to operationalize our data and, within months, reduce waste throughout our manufacturing process," said Justin Herman, Panasonic Energy of Northern America's chief information officer.

Prior to using Palantir's technology, Panasonic's operations had more manual processes, which have since been mostly replaced by automated software.

The change, which includes installing more sensors across the factory lines, has also allowed Panasonic's factory to analyze billions of data points vs. thousands of data points under the previous system.

"We are already seeing meaningful impact on reducing material scrap and increasing line uptime, thereby improving the quality and volume of production outputs," said Shyam Sankar, chief technology officer of Palantir.

A spokesperson for Palantir declined to provide information on the cost of the deal, stating that the terms of the agreement are confidential.

Panasonic first made waves in Northern Nevada when partner Tesla picked Storey County as the site of its first Gigafactory.

Panasonic's Northern Nevada factory has shipped more than six billion electric vehicle or EV battery cells since starting operations. The facility is one of the world's largest lithium-ion battery factories, according to Panasonic. Panasonic is also building a new lithium-ion battery factory in De Soto, Kansas, which will also use Palantir's technology. The Kansas factory is expected to start battery production in March 2025.