Mitsubishi to build new battery plant

TOKYO, JAPAN - A Mitsubishi Motors Corp. affiliate will build a factory in Japan to mass-produce lithium-ion batteries for its upcoming all-electric car, the company said.

Mitsubishi has been developing the iMiEV car since 2005, planning to launch sales to fleet customers such as rental car companies beginning in mid-2009 and to the general public in 2010.

The lithium-ion battery for the car will be produced by Lithium Energy Japan, a subsidiary of Japan's biggest battery maker, GS Yuasa Corp., at a newly acquired site in Shiga in western Japan, the companies said in a statement.

GS Yuasa is already providing lithium-ion batteries to customers including Boeing, which uses them in its 787 jets.

Mitsubishi initially planned to produce batteries for 2,000 iMiEVs in 2009 and 5,000 the following year at GS Yuasa's existing factory in Kyoto.

But the company changed its plans in order to boost production targets to meet rising demand for electric cars amid soaring fuel prices and the growing appeal of environmentally friendly products, the automaker said.

A new battery plant will be ready in April 2009 to initially produce batteries for 2,000 units of the electric car, Mitsubishi said. The company will then boost battery production up to 10,000 a year "shortly afterward," but did not specify the exact timeline for a planned production increase.

The move is part of a race among automakers to develop mass-market electric cars.

Nissan Motor Co. and Japanese electronics maker NEC Corp. are working together to produce batteries for electric vehicles, and Honda Motor Co. is leasing a fuel-cell vehicle in California.

U.S. automaker General Motors Corp. is developing a plug-in electric vehicle called the Chevrolet Volt, which it hopes to launch in 2010. Ford Motor Co. has a demonstration fleet of 20 plug-ins through a partnership with Southern California Edison.

Related News

hydro quebec

Hydro-Quebec won't ask for rate hike next year

MONTREAL - Hydro-Quebec Distribution will not file a rate adjustment application with the province’s energy board this year.

In a statement released on Friday the Crown Corporation said it wants current electricity rates to be maintained for another year, starting April 1. That is consistent with the recently tabled Bill 34, which guarantees lower electricity rates for Quebecers.

The bill also provides a $500 million rebate in 2020, half of which will go to residential customers while $190 million will go to commercial customers and another $60 million to industrial ones.

Hydro-Quebec said the 2020-21 rate freeze will generate savings of nearly $1…

READ MORE
wires logo

Senate Committee Advised by WIRES Counsel That Electric Transmission Still Faces Barriers to Development

READ MORE

netherlands-outpaces-canada-in-solar-power-generation

The Netherlands Outpaces Canada in Solar Power Generation

READ MORE

power lines

Can California Manage its Solar Boom?

READ MORE

watts bar ngs

Power industry may ask staff to live on site as Coronavirus outbreak worsens

READ MORE