TOKYO, June 6 (Reuters) - The energy unit of Japan's

Panasonic Holdings ( PCRFF ) may find it "a little hard" to meet

a previously stated goal of boosting electric vehicle battery

capacity to 200 gigawatt hours per year by early next decade,

its CEO said on Thursday.

The comments highlight the difficulty Tesla

supplier Panasonic Energy faces as demand for EV batteries cools

in the face of a slowdown in the take-up of battery-powered

vehicles in the U.S.

The unit also dropped the target year for achieving sales of

over 3 trillion yen ($19.19 billion). It had previously expected

to reach both targets by the 2030 business year, which ends in

March 2031.

The numbers remained a goal, but it may be "a little hard"

to achieve them around 2030, Panasonic Energy CEO Kazuo Tadanobu

told financial analysts and reporters on Thursday.

The latest admission follows remarks last month from

Panasonic's ( PCRFF ) top executive, Yuki Kusumi, that there was a need to

set the pace of investment in automotive battery plants based on

the speed at which EVs spread.

($1 = 156.3100 yen)