Toyota to Make Batteries for Hybrids in N. America; When Depends on Oil Prices

Toyota Motor Corp., preparing to build Prius hybrids in the U.S. by 2010, will eventually make advanced batteries within North America to power the gasoline-electric cars, Bloomberg news service reported today, citing company Vice Chairman Kazuo Okamoto.

"We will start producing batteries in North America," Okamoto (right) told reporters today in New York. The date of such production, now done only in Japan, depends on oil prices, which Toyota expects to continue rising, he said, without elaborating.

Toyota said on July 10 it would assemble the Prius at a plant under construction in Mississippi, scrapping plans to make Highlander SUV there. The company, which already makes gasoline-electric Camrys in the U.S., lacks local suppliers of unique parts such as nickel-metal batteries and electric motors for the Prius and other hybrids.

Posted by

Scott Doggett September 5, 2008, 2:47 PM

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Batteries, Fuel Economy, Hybrid, Plug-ins and Electric, Toyota

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