toyota, panasonic announce big ev battery joint venture - lithium battery suppliers

TOKYO —
Toyota and Panasonic will set up a joint venture next year to produce electric vehicles. EV)
Battery, using the influence of one of the world's largest automakers and battery manufacturers to expand the promotion of electric vehicles.
The two companies said in a joint statement on Tuesday that Toyota would own 51% of the joint venture and Panasonic would own the rest, confirming previous reports.
Joint venture, established in the initial lithium-
The ion battery partnership reached by the two companies at the end of 2017 reflects the Japanese company's goal of becoming a bigger global player in the battery industry, which is critical to developing affordable electric vehicles
The two companies will take part of the existing batteries.
Related equipment and engineers of joint venture company.
Panasonic will also transfer its ability to manufacture thin rectangular prism batteries in Japan and China.
The two companies will mobilize a total of 3,500 employees.
The batteries produced by the joint venture will be sold to various car manufacturers.
The two companies said the capital size of the joint venture had not yet been decided.
While Panasonic is one of the world's largest electric vehicle battery suppliers, it faces growing competition from South Korean manufacturers Samsung SDI Co. and LG Chem as well as China's CATL.
Panasonic is currently Tesla's exclusive battery supplier, Reuters reported. S.
Electric car manufacturers have been discussing with other companies including China's Tianjin Lishen to supply batteries to its new Shanghai auto factory.
Toyota and Panasonic have set up a joint venture called Prime Earth EV Energy, which produces batteries that are mainly used in gasoline hybrid cars.
The new joint venture also shows that Toyota is further expanding the development and production of electric vehicle batteries, just as many competitors have abandoned development due to high costs.