Toyota to Develop Lithium-Ion Batteries

Washington DC March 9, 2007; The AIADA newsletter reported that Toyota CEO Katsuaki Watanabe has confirmed to Business Week that Toyota will develop new lithium-ion batteries for its third-generation hybrids.

The cars will be due out in late 2008 or early 2009. Lighter and more powerful than the current nickel metal hydride packs, the new batteries will help make for more fuel-efficient hybrids. And it's not just the batteries that will be better.

The rest of Toyota's next-generation hybrid systems will also be a big step up from what's on the road today. "We are now aiming at reducing, by half, both size and cost of the third-generation hybrid system," says Watanabe.

That should go some way to bringing the price of hybrids closer to regular gasoline cars. Longer term, Watanabe reiterates that he believes hybrid sales could reach 1 million a year by the early part of next decade.

To ramp up sales, Toyota will increase the number of hybrids on the market. Reports in Japan suggest the company plans to offer a hybrid version of any model that sells more than 100,000 units a year.