Panasonic EV to build battery plant for hybrid cars

Panasonic EV Energy Co., a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., has said that it would build a plant in Miyagi Prefecture to produce nickel-metal hydride batteries for eco-friendly gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles. The new plant will be built in the town of Taiwan in the prefecture at a cost of ¥30 billion (US$277.28 million) and will begin operating by 2010. Capable of producing 200,000 battery packs per year, it will initially turn out 100,000 packs a year, Panasonic EV said. The Miyagi plant is expected to create some 300 jobs. Based in Kosai, Shizuoka Prefecture, Panasonic EV was set up by Toyota and Matsushita in 1996 and is supplying nickel-metal hydride batteries for the biggest Japanese automaker’s gas-electric hybrid vehicles. Panasonic EV will boost its production capacity against the backdrop of Toyota’s plan to expand hybrid models to around 10% of its annual production of about 10 million units by early 2010. The firm also plans to build another factory in Kosai to begin mass production of lithium-ion batteries in 2010. (May 24/27, 2008)