"Sanyo Says It Sees Big Hike in Battery Business as Demand Grows for Hybrid Cars" Green Car Advisor

Sanyo Says It Sees Big Hike in Battery Business as Demand Grows for Hybrid Cars

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Less than a week after Hitachi said it will increase production of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids in anticipation of a flood of new business, Sanyo Electric says it will quadruple its production of nickel-metal hydride and lithium-ion batteries for hybrids as demand for the fuel efficient vehicles rises.

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Sanyo sees big jump in demand for batteries like this nickle-metal hydride pack for a Ford Escape hybrid.
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Ford and Honda have increased their orders for Sanyo batteries while a pair of European car makers with plans to launch hybrids after next year are two of Sanyo's newest customers, the head of the company's rechargeable battery division said in an interview with Bloomberg news.

Mitsuru Honma wouldn't identify the European car makers that have ordered Sanyo batteries for their future hybrids, but Fiat, Volkswagen, Jaguar and PSA Peugeot Citroen all among those known to be planning to launch hybrids in 201l and beyond.

Ford Motor Co. with two Ford and two Mercury hybrid models, and Honda Motor Co., with two hybrids, are Sanyo's present nickel-metal hydride battery customers. The company also is developing advanced nickle-metal and lithium-ion batteries for Volkswagen.

Analysts at JPMorgan Securities Japan have said they expect the global market for batteries for hybrid vehicles will top $6 billion by mid-decade.

Lithium-ion batteries are ideal for EVs and plug-in hybrids because they are lighter and hold far more energy - thus providing more range - than nickle-metal hydride batteries; nickle batteries, though, provide for quicker bursts of energy, a must for conventional hybrids that use their batteries primarily to augment their internal combustion engines during periods of rapid acceleration or heavy demand - such as climbing hills.