Lithium Energy Japan Established to Produce Lithium-ion Batteries

GS Yuasa Corporation (TSE: 6674), Mitsubishi Corporation (TSE: 8058), and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation (TSE: 7211) announced that, effective December 12, they have formed the joint venture company "Lithium Energy Japan" to produce large capacity and high performance lithium-ion batteries. The companies have been in collaboration since last May to set up this joint venture company.

GS Yuasa possesses advanced technologies in large lithium-ion batteries and is striving to broaden their applications. Meanwhile, Mitsubishi Corporation intends to enter the battery manufacturing business and aims to create other related businesses as well. Finally, Mitsubishi Motors Corporation is working to promote greater use of electric vehicles, which is the ultimate in environmentally-friendly automobiles. Through their mutual interests, the three companies have come together to invest in this new joint venture. Their intent is to apply their comprehensive strengths in vertical value chains and take advantage of their powerful synergy to advance this business.

Commercialization of these batteries began in the mid-to-late 1990s by GS Yuasa. The batteries that will be produced by the new company are based on the "LIM series" of Large Lithium-ion batteries manufactured by GS Yuasa with improved cell-structure and electrode materials to improve the energy density and power density of the new batteries.

Through the development, production, and sales of these batteries, the new company will demonstrate how environmental technologies can be incorporated into society and accelerate the use of these technologies as well, including electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, and energy recycling systems.

According to the original announcement GS Yuasa was expected to own a 51% share of the new company, with MC and MMC owing 34% and 15% respectively. During the first stage of development, 3 billion yen (US$3.3 million) was to be invested to install automated mass production lines within a 7000m² facility at GS Yuasa's Kyoto's head office plant, capable of manufacturing 200,000 cells per year. Operations were slated to commence by 2009.

Comments

[Jay, writer MemberSpeed.com]

I hope this collaboration becomes a success. We need to have more suppliers and more advocates of environment-friendly vehicles! The green movement is slowly making its way to people's lifestyles. This year alone has paved the way for many green trends to come out of the Earth. We can only move forward.

[aaron]

Other commentors on this blog have cited lithium scarcity as an issue in regards to a future of massive lithium-ion battery production. But then I've read about how lithium batteries are recyclable. The high cost of lithium should actually create incentive for this. If it actually is recyclable, shouldn't that fact alone be enough to kill the peak lithium theory?

[bigTom]

aaron:
The simple amswer is no. The claim is that while Lithium is not particularly rare, the amount found in high quality ores is. Assuming we have a limited inventory available, recycling would mean we are not limited to a single use, i.e. the material recycled from one battery can be used to make another, but the total number of batteries at any given time is limited.

Workarounds would have to be to use less Li per battery, or to use another material. Sodium has been suggested. I suspect as the price of Lithium escaltes due to increasing demand these other technological solutions will be pursued.