In 2020, Toyota and Panasonic formed a joint venture called Prime Planet Energy & Solutions(PPES) to manufacture advanced lithium-ion prismatic batteries.
Toyota controls 51% of the joint venture and Panasonic controls 49%. Last week, PPES said in a statement it expects to lower the cost of batteries by 50% by the end of next year.
The statement did not say how that 50% reduction in cost will be calculated. Is it 50% less than the current cost of manufacturing Panasonic batteries? 50% less than Tesla’s cost of batteries? 50% less than CATL or Samsung or SK Innovation? And how exactly will costs be lowered? The announcement from PPES glosses over those important details.
The original focus of Prime Planet Energy & Solutions was on making batteries for hybrids, which Toyota likes to call “self charging electric cars.” At present, it has 25% of the global battery market for hybrids. But the focus is now shifting to battery electric cars.
PPES is installing manufacturing lines for prismatic lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles at its existing domestic facilities in Himeji, Japan.
The planned output of the new production line site will be enough to power 80,000 battery electric cars annually.
According to Bloomberg, about 60% of the prismatic lithium-ion battery cost is related to resources like lithium and cobalt, while the remaining 40% falls on development, production and investments. The joint venture is hard at work trying to improve the batteries for electric transportation.
Reference- PPES website & Newsroom, Toyota website, Inside EVs, EV Obsession