According to a recent Reuters report, Japanese electronics giant Panasonic would consider increasing its already massive investment in US electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla’s Gigafactory 1 in Nevada, if the automaker wants to increase its battery-production capacity.

The Gigafactory 1 is Tesla’s mammoth battery-production plant at which Panasonic produces custom 2170 li-ion cells, co-developed with Tesla Motors, for the automaker’s Model 3 electric cars. With Tesla having recently confirmed that the production of Model 3 is steadily increasing, the pace of battery production would also apparently have to be increased.

The 2013-launched Tesla Gigafactory 1 currently has an annual production capacity of over 20 GWh. However, to support Tesla’s ambitious EV growth plans, the production of batteries at the plant would have to be increased more than two times within the next one year.

Tesla and its partners have already invested more than $4 billion into Gigafactory 1, with Panasonic’s contribution to the plant’s funding being over $1 billion.

Revealing that Panasonic is open to increasing its investment in Gigafactory 1 if an increase in battery-production capacity is required by Tesla, Yoshio Ito -- Chief of Panasonic’s automotive business -- said during a recent media roundtable: “We would of course consider additional investment if we are requested to do so.”