Sanyo Says It Has Won at Least 2 Customers for Its Li-ion Batteries for PHEVs

Sanyo Says It Has Won at Least 2 Customers for Its Li-ion Batteries for PHEVs

By Scott Doggett December 2, 2009

Sanyo Electric Co., the world's biggest maker of rechargeable batteries, has won at least two customers for its lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrid vehicles, Bloomberg news service reported today, citing a Sanyo executive.

The company will start supplying the batteries to automakers, including a Japanese and foreign carmaker, as early as in the latter half of 2011, Mitsuru Honma, Sanyo's head of the rechargeable-battery unit, said in an interview Tuesday at the company's headquarters in Osaka. Honma didn't identify the customers.

The electronics maker being acquired by Panasonic Corp. is accelerating development of lithium-ion batteries for plug-in hybrid cars in anticipation of growth in demand for low-emission cars. The company estimates global sales of hybrid cars using lithium-ion cells, including plug-in models, will grow to 2.3 million vehicles by 2015 and 10.2 million by 2020.

"Lithium-ion batteries used in cars are likely to be the winners in a high-growth market and that's why Sanyo has made it the centerpiece of its business strategy," Nobuo Kurahashi, an analyst at Mizuho Investors Securities Co. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg. "Any agreement like this is a very positive development."

Most hybrid cars currently use nickel-metal hydride batteries and automakers are shifting to develop plug-in models and electric cars that use lithium-ion cells that are lighter and more powerful although they cost more.

Toyota Motor Corp., the maker of the world's most popular hybrid vehicle, Prius, plans to build a plug-in model for retail buyers in 2012. General Motors Co. plans to build as many as 60,000 Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric cars annually starting in November 2010.

Sanyo will supply lithium-ion batteries for Toyota's plug-in hybrid vehicles, the Asahi newspaper reported on Oct. 21, without saying where it got the information. Toyota spokesman Hideaki Homma today declined to confirm or deny that Sanyo will be its supplier.

Scott Doggett:  is an AutoObserver.com Associate Editor.