Toyota, Matsushita team up to build hybrid vehicle battery plants in Japan
05/23/2008, 10:25 AM
By paulee
Toyota, the world’s biggest automaker, is planning to build two manufacturing plants in a partnership with consumer electronics giant Matsushita. The plants will build batteries for hybrid vehicles and other environmentally-friendly cars, upping total production to 1 million annually by 2011. The plants will be built by Panasonic EV Energy Co., a joint venture of the two companies and, along with an upgrade in an existing facility, are reported to cost 70 billion yen (about $685 million).
The plan calls for a new nickel-metal hydride plant costing close to 30 billion yen built in Taiwa, Miyagi Prefecture, that would start operations in 2011, as per Automotive News. The output would be 300,000 batteries per year. A 10 billion yen plant that would build lithium-ion batteries would be added to an existing facility in Kosai, Shizuoka, along with the remaining 30 million used for boosting output of nickel-metal hydride batteries at the same facility. The measures would double last year’s Panasonic EV battery production of 500,000 units.
Unlike other manufacturers, which seem to be backing the lithium-ion battery technology, Toyota is hedging its bets, sticking to its proven nickel tech, as used in the current Prius. The next-gen Prius will also likely use the older-style batteries, while its Lexus counterpart is expected to switch to lithium-ion cells.
05/23, 10:29 AM
posted by:
jayjc08
Good news altogether. I’m curious why nobody has considered a plant in the USA, with the value of the dollar dropping it would be easier altogether to build these new batteries.
05/23, 10:40 AM
posted by:
elviososa
it’s simple….because of the unions
05/23, 10:58 AM
posted by:
ihustle
The reason they havent had a US plant is because they actually have to pay people a decent wage here. They cant get away with a sweat shop, and people working for two dollars a day with no benefits.They save a ton of money using slave labor, instead of taking care of there workers. Im sure Americans would be banging down the doors at toyota for an assembly job. hahaha
05/23, 11:04 AM
posted by:
xyunya
At this point wage in Japan is higher then in US. The cost of labor is usually secondary concern in high tech industry. We (US) are loosing our competitive advantage and descending in status of less industrialized countries, more as a supplier of raw material: ore, wood, agro products.
05/23, 11:08 AM
posted by:
shaver
Good, battery plants = pollution factories. It is impossible to build battery plant in US with enviro regs. In Japan they can have waste pour direct into harbor. It kills seals, saves time without having to get caught clubbing them on film. Also shark float right to the top fins up ready to chop.
05/23, 11:10 AM
posted by:
ihustle
So then you disagree that people in countrys like Japan and China dont get under paid? Last i heard there was crackdowns on sweat shops in such countrys. So then what your saying is toyota is paying more money to there assembly workers in there country, then the U.S is paying there union workers union wages? I highly doubt that. If they ever wanted to bring a plant to the U.S they would in fact loose money paying the union workers union wages. Compared to there wages they pay in Japan
05/23, 11:11 AM
posted by:
El Aleman
05/23, 11:26 AM
posted by:
xyunya
China is a communist country with labor camps and sweat shops, underground economies and tremendous corruption. Japan is one of the most advanced capitalists countries in the world with one of the highest standards of living. Can you compare your penis and your finger? Both are similar shape and part of your anatomy.
Japanese are cruel to animals and where even more cruel to humans during WWII and prior of WWII during occupation of China and Korea. However, their environmental laws are stricter then US. They do love themselves and their own environment.
05/23, 11:48 AM
posted by:
DeansterTJ
LOL Shaver, well written!
05/23, 12:11 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
Shaver: funny.
xyunya: I believe the majority of the posts so far are straying off topic (just a little) in an attemp to divert our attention from the fact Toyota really seems to have their you-know-what together when it comes to future hybrid production. Whatever your opinion is on the whole hybrid/diesel/electric debate, Toyota seems to have the most cohesive plan and if public acceptance is any indication there’s very little argument against their strategy.
05/23, 2:09 PM
posted by:
xyunya
johnnycanuck, when did we ever stay on the topic on this blog? Everybody needs to feel like contributing editor on this site. That’s why it’s fun.
shaver, ihustle admits of tossing garbage on his bellowed Garden State Parkway and proud of it and you complaining about japs crapping in their harbors.
05/23, 7:17 PM
posted by:
elviososa
In the U.S. you work for the FED that spend trillion of dollars on war instead of improving citizents lives…your paidcheck worth nothing once it get into your pocket…your insurence tax… FED income tax…State tax…county tax…city tax…school tax…and the sales tax would eat your paid in no time.
05/23, 7:43 PM
posted by:
elviososa
WASHINGTON (AFP) – The Pentagon cannot account for nearly 15 billion dollars in payments for goods and services in Iraq, according to an internal audit which members of Congress blasted Friday as a “shocking” accountability failure.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080523/pl_afp/usiraqmilitarybudget