This sounds promising.
Leading battery manufacturer Panasonic and leading automotive manufacturer Toyota are working together to bring meaningful change to the electric vehicle market, by expediting advances into EV battery technology in the near future. This was expressed during an MOU signing between the two companies, where they agreed to explore possible synergies and space for cooperation.
While Toyota may have banked its future on hydrogen, there’s no denying that the surge in EV adoption over the last few years would have presented a business case that’s hard to pass up, and there’s little question that battery-electric vehicles will play a crucial role in intercity transit. As such, it makes sense for Toyota to engage Panasonic to help further its developments into battery technology, given Panasonic’s expertise on the matter.
Actually, to say ‘expertise’ might be a bit of an understatement, as Panasonic has positioned itself as a leather in automotive lithium-ion batteries, and the EV-battery division is considered to be a key part of its business. Panasonic has, in recent years, made itself a market leader in the EV battery market, with the company working continually to refine its efforts into its automotive prismatic battery systems.
Toyota and Panasonic share a relationship that spans all the way back to 1953, and they each recongise the importance of furthering advancements in battery performance, safety, and price, as well as set up a stable supply. Toyota certainly seems to be moving full-steam on EVs though, with an earlier joint venture agreement signed alongside Mazda and Denso to look into basic structural technologies for EVs.
