Panasonic Plant in De Soto Gears Up for Spring Opening

Posted January 17, 2025

Updated at 3:40 p.m., January 17, 2025

The $4 billion Panasonic electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in De Soto is nearing completion and will soon begin powering its first assembly line. Kansas leaders and legislators gathered on Friday to remark on how the facility could shape future generations of Kansans.

The facility is located on a nearly 300-acre site near 103rd Street and Lexington at Astra Enterprise Park, formerly the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant. Panasonic is targeting a first-quarter 2025 opening.

It will also bring 4,000 jobs to the area, a well-underway goal, with about 400 employers currently in this headcount. Panasonic is projecting over 1,000 jobs will be filled by summer 2025 and 2,000 by 2026. Additionally, the project has generated over 3,800 construction jobs since its groundbreaking in 2022.

Interior look at the Panasonic electric vehicle battery facility’s front entrance.

“This factory will not only produce EV battery technology, but it will also foster economic growth and create economic stability in this region,” president of Panasonic North America, Allan Swan said.

De Soto Mayor Rick Walker began his remarks by recalling his memory of the Sunflower munitions plant when it was still operating.

De Soto, Kansas Mayor Rick Walker gives remarks at the Panasonic site visit.

“To me, it was a symbol of industry, opportunity and prosperity. Well, one day the lights went out. The jobs were gone and left behind a sense of uncertainty and for years this site sat in a state of unknown,” Walker said.

Fast forward to today and the lights have returned to De Soto and with the facility comes a new opportunity for the city to make a name for itself in innovation and progress. In October 2023, the De Soto City Council approved a development agreement that placed a 100% tax abatement on the site for the next 20 years.

The revenue generated from this agreement would be put towards projects that would help support the facility and city infrastructure such as road repairs, water and sewage systems and the the addition of a fire station on Lexington Ave.

“The lights are shining again and the future is bright,” Walker said.

In January 2022, Kansas state officials went to the Legislature to assist in passing an incentive program that would attract major companies who wish to invest more than $1 billion into the state. The Attracting Powerful Economic Expansion (APEX) program was then signed the following month by Gov. Laura Kelly and Panasonic was the first to benefit from it.

Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly talks about how excited she is for the facility’s opening in the spring.

Kansas offered a nearly $830 million state incentive package to Panasonic. While the manufacturer will certainly reap the benefits from the program, Kelly stressed these funds are not provided to the companies until it has provided the jobs that will directly help economic growth. The Panasonic facility is expected to produce over $500 million in income when it is fully operational and generate a $2.5 million yearly return on investment, Kelly said.

“We are a few months out from the first lithium-ion batteries produced here in Kansas,” Kelly said. “When finished, this facility will put Kansas at the forefront of sustainable energy and produce 66 batteries per second.”

Also in attendance for remarks included Johnson County Board of County Commission Chairman Mike Kelly; Speaker of the KS House Dan Hawkins; KS Senate President Ty Masterson; KS Lt. Gov. David Toland and Rep. Sharice Davids.