The development of Toyota’s next generation of green vehicles has been taken one step further with the announcement of a $192 million battery factory. This factory will be built in Shizouka Prefecture and produce nickel metal hydride batteries for future generations of the Toyota Prius. Toyota is working with Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. on research, development and implementation of the Shizouka factory over the next two years.
Toyota is not resting on its laurels by building a single factory for its current line of Prius hybrids. There are reports that the Japanese automaker is planning to build a manufacturing facility by 2010 that will construct lithium ion batteries. These batteries would be a step above the Prius’ nickel metal hydride packs that would allow Toyota to construct plug-in vehicles. The creation of both factories would help Toyota meet its goal of selling one million hybrid vehicles each year after the 2010 model year.
Toyota has created the partnership with Matsushita and leaked information about future factories to stay ahead of their competition. The two challengers to the hybrid automaker crown are Honda and Nissan. Honda’s goals for the model years following 2010 are more modest than Toyota with an initial sales goal of 500,000 hybrids each year. This benchmark may be shattered with the help of a four-hybrid lineup that will cover economy, mid-sized and luxury elements of the automotive market. Nissan is leaping into the hybrid market with its first hybrid in 2010 as well as an initiative to create additional hybrids in the next decade.
The fact that Toyota is building an additional Prius battery factory is less impressive than the news about lithium ion battery production. Toyota has the bona fides to build a plug-in hybrid given the slow but steady development of the Prius. The automaker has the financial resources, public esteem and corporate connections to garner immediate support for an affordable plug-in hybrid. Consumers will realize the best consequence of this news in the next five years when Honda, Nissan, Hyundai and dozens of other automakers follow the Toyota example. The mass production of lithium ion batteries and lightweight components by automakers will make clean vehicles affordable for the average driver.
