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.
Meanwhile, Toyota is pushing ahead with plans to form a joint venture company with Panasonic of Japan related to the automotive prismatic battery business, said Akio Kitami, general manager of Toyota’s Powertrain battery business division.
And in terms of Toyota’s plans to deploy solid-state battery tech, executive vice-president Shigeki Terashi (pictured) said the company hopes to unveil its first such battery model “by the time of next year’s Olympic Games” in Tokyo.
CATL is expected to supply lithium-ion batteries for Toyota-branded electric vehicles to be released in China and other markets starting in 2020. However, Toyota stressed there would be no “joint venture”company formed. Areas of cooperation are set to include improving battery quality, adopting shared standards and reusing batteries.
Earlier this year, CATL and South Korea’s LG Chem signed deals to secure the long-term supply of lithium-ion EV batteries for Swedish car firm Volvo.
