Panasonic Corp is considering investing in a U.S. car battery plant planned by Tesla Motors Inc, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday, with total investment estimated by one source around 100 billion yen ($979 million).The facility, expected to go on-stream in 2017, is part of Tesla's blueprint for a more affordable electric vehicle and would be the first major, integrated U.S. facility producing battery cells for electric cars.Tesla shares hit an all-time high on Tuesday, after a brokerage set a new target price suggesting a rise of almost 50 percent from Monday's close, while Panasonic's shares jumped 7 percent on Wednesday to a three-week high.Last week, Tesla gave some initial hints about plans for a lithium-ion battery plant, or "giga factory", that would likely include Panasonic and other suppliers as partners. It said that further details would be announced this week.
Tesla Motors, Inc. (Tesla) designs, develops, manufactures and sells electric vehicles and advanced electric vehicle powertrain components. Shares of TSLA traded higher by 13.94% or $30.35/share to $248.00. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $34.25 and as high as $259.20. On average, 9612350 shares of TSLA exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 32797000.
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