panasonic

Toyota takes more Asian battery firms along for EV ride

Toyota is teaming up with several Asian battery manufacturers to ensure it has the supplies it needs to ramp up production of electric vehicles, the Japanese car company has confirmed.

Chinese battery and auto makers CATL and BYD are now lined up to work with Toyota—in addition to Japan’s GS Yuasa and Toshiba, Toyota bosses have confirmed.

toyota

CATL

BYD

panasonic

Battery makers sign up for BESS safety taskforce

Manufacturers and users of battery storage systems have backed an industry-led initiative in the US to “prioritise safety” in the production and operation of equipment.

The move came amidst on going concerns about the risk of fires from lithium batteries and cells— and just days before an explosion at a grid-scale battery storage facility in the US.

Energy Storage Association

Highview Power Storage

Enel Green Power

Duke Energy

Musk hits out at Panasonic over Tesla battery supply

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has blamed “lower-than-expected” battery manufacture from Panasonic for disrupting production of Tesla’s Model 3 electric vehicles (EVs).

Musk said in a post on Twitter that Panasonic’s battery cell lines at the ‘Gigafactory 1’ facility in Nevada amounted to about 24GWh per year— lower than the expected 35GWh— and had “been a constraint on Model 3 output since July (2018)”.

Musk added “Tesla won’t spend money on more capacity until existing lines get closer to 35GWh theoretical”.

Panasonic joins solar plus battery microgrids pilot for India

Indian power distributor BSES Yamuna is to partner Panasonic in rolling out pilot solar power microgrids with battery storage at four separate locations in East Delhi.

Each microgrid will comprise 5-7kW of rooftop solar generation and 7-10kWh of lithium-ion battery storage.

The pilot plants set up at BSES offices in East Delhi reported that, following installation, locations sourced 92% of their power from the microgrid, and only 8% from the grid itself.

Toyota and Panasonic agree batteries joint venture

Japanese compatriots Panasonic and Toshiba have concluded contracts toward setting up a joint venture (JV) company related to the automotive prismatic battery business.

The JV— which is subject to approval by anti-trust chiefs— will cover “research, development, production, engineering, manufacturing, procurement, order receipt, and management”.

Toyota will contribute equipment and personnel in the areas of development and production engineering related to battery cells, while Panasonic will contribute equipment and personnel to support activities including production, development, engineering and manufacturing (at its plants in Japan and Dalian, China).

Mergers & Acquisitions

joint venture

battery manufacturing

Panasonic chief hints at battery tie-up with Tesla in China

The head of Japan’s Panasonic Corp has floated the idea of jointly producing electric vehicle batteries in China with Tesla.

Panasonic CEO Kazuhiro Tsuga (pictured) said during an earnings briefing on 10 May that the move could be on the cards, Reuters reported.

Panasonic ships first Li-on batteries from China

Japan’s Panasonic has shipped its first prismatic automotive lithium-ion batteries from a new factory in Dalian, China.

Panasonic said the move followed the start of “mass production” at the site— which was formally opened last year— with consignments of batteries being shipped to Chinese and North American customers.

panasonic

prismatic batteries

Dalian Lever Electric

japan

china

Montenegro opts for Li-battery storage for telecoms

A telecoms operator in Montenegro has signed a 10-year lithium-ion battery storage supply contract for its cell towers situated across the country.

Crnogorski Telekom (CT), part of Deutsche Telekom, currently uses a combination of diesel generators and lead-acid batteries for backup power.

telecom

Montenegro

lithium-ion batteries

Panasonic plans Japan batteries expansion

Japanese tech giant Panasonic Corporation is stepping up domestic production of prismatic lithium-ion batteries to meet what it said is increasing demand for electric vehicles.

Panasonic confirmed it will open a production line for the batteries at a factory in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, although it declined to give details about planned production capacity.

panasonic

electric vehicles

japan

prismatic lithium-ion batteries

production

Tesla opts for Samsung over Panasonic for Australia project

The Powerpacks Tesla is providing for its South Australia battery project will use lithium-ion battery cells from Samsung SDI— instead of those from its long-term partner Panasonic, BBB has confirmed.

South Australia’s state government announced in July it had chosen the US tech giant to deliver “the world’s largest” battery system in the region.