Toyota announced on Tuesday it was creating a joint venture with Panasonic to develop batteries for electric cars, as the Japanese auto giant ramps up its ambitions for electric-powered vehicles.
The firm will be set up by 2020 and controlled 51-49 per cent by Toyota, the Prius manufacturer said in a statement.
“Toyota and Panasonic are confident that the contracts concluded today will further strengthen and accelerate their actions toward achieving competitive batteries,” the statement added.
Toyota boss Akio Toyoda has previously said he wants half of the firm’s global sales to come from electric-powered vehicles by 2030, up from around 15 per cent now.
“The key to electrifying vehicles in the future will be batteries. In order for Japan to survive this era of profound change with no natural resources, we must develop competitive batteries and establish systems for a stable supply,” Toyoda said.
Panasonic is seen as a specialist in the battery sector and has already partnered up with electric vehicle innovator Tesla to operate a huge “gigafactory” in the United States.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.