Toyota to manufacture Lithium-Ion batteries next year

Japans Toyota Motor Corp. announced that it would start producing lithium-ion batteries next year to power the next generation of eco-friendly vehicles, including a plug-in hybrid vehicle to be released in 2010. Toyota also said that later in June it would open a new research department dedicated to creating a new battery that will “outperform” a lithium-ion battery, currently considered the best technology available to power electric vehicles. Toyota, already the world’s top producer of gas-electric hybrid vehicles, including the best-selling Prius, is eager to expand its offering of hybrids and other alternative vehicles as soaring fuel prices drive consumers toward more fuel-efficient cars. Higher fuel prices this year have created a run on Toyota’s Prius hybrid, but Toyota’s limited capacity to make nickel-metal hydride batteries has meant that it can’t keep up with demand. Toyota’s joint venture, however, is adding a third battery plant in Japan, increasing its annual production capacity to 1 million units by about 2010. (June 11, 2008)