Japanese tech-corporation Toshiba has already made quite a few headlines this year with the release of it’s Direct Methanol Fuel-Cell (DMFC) technology. Toshiba hasn’t stopped there, however, as they have boldly pronounced themselves as main players in the worldwide race to produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
“No confidence, no investment,” was the strong statement given by Shoshi Kawatsu, Toshiba’s general manager of the Super Charge Battery (or SCiB) division, as part of a Financial Times interview that covered the company’s battery technology and overall potential as suppliers of lithium-ion batteries for vehicles. Mr. Kawatsu stated that Toshiba’s investment of $279 million to build a second SCiB factory is a glaring sign of it’s confidence, and went on to say that he expects to sign five car companies as customers for it’s new lithium-ion laptop battery.
Toshiba first announced their arrival into the lithium-ion battery for hybrid and all-electric vehicle market last year. Their goal is to make 3 million lithium-ion battery cells a month starting in 2010, with a sales goal of $2.2 billion for their batteries by the year 2015.