Toyota to manufacture plug-in batteries in-house
And in partnership with Panasonic
Toyota will start producing enough battery packs to make about 100,000 plug-in vehicles later this year according to the Nikkei. Additionally, Toyota will also jointly develop batteries for its plug-in vehicles with Panasonic.
By producing their own lithium-ion battery packs in-house Toyota believes they can reduce plug-in costs.
The Prius plug-in hybrid will be Toyota’s first plug-in vehicle when it goes on sale in early 2012 in North America, Europe and Japan.
Interestingly, Toyota’s battery partner, Panasonic, is also Tesla’s battery partner. I wonder if this had anything to do with the upcoming Toyota and Tesla electric vehicle collaboration?

