20 August 2009

Toyota in hybrid battery bind

Toyota Motor Corp. is facing a problem carmakers would like to have. The world's leading carmaker is struggling to keep up with the demand for its hybrid vehicles.

That is why it looks like Toyota will also buy hybrid-car batteries from Sanyo Electric Co. Toyota now buys its batteries from Panasonic EV Energy Co, a joint venture with Panasonic Corp. In the coming months, Panasonic plans to take control of Sanyo and continues to await regulatory approval.

Demand for gasoline-electric vehicles continues to surge in Japan, helped by tax breaks and subsidies under a government initiative to promote fuel-efficient automobiles. The problem: Production of hybrids suffers from a supply bottleneck for batteries, Toyota official said.

Right now customers placing orders for a Prius have to wait about eight months before delivery.

In addition to the Prius, Toyota said in its first month of offering it to the public, it had received about 10,000 orders for the Lexus HS250h sedan, the premium brand’s first dedicated hybrid car. The goal was to sell an average 500 units a month.

Toyota will first use Sanyo’s lithium-ion batteries starting in 2011.

The goal is for Toyota to procure about 10,000 battery units per year from Sanyo, the world’s biggest rechargeable battery maker. Toyota aims to sell at least 1 million hybrid vehicles a year in the early 2010s.

Panasonic EV Energy has said it plans to double battery production capacity to around 1 million units a year by the middle of 2010.

For related information, go to www.isa.org/productivity.