Joint Venture Between Toyota Motor and Panasonic To Develop Automotive Prismatic Batteries 

Toyota Motor and Panasonic Corporation have joined hands to establish a joint venture specializing in automotive prismatic batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).

The joint venture will be called Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, Inc.

This latest decision comes a year after the two companies announced that they had concluded a business integration contract and a joint venture contract for the formation of a new company. In the joint venture, Toyota will own 51% of the stake, while Panasonic will have the rest 49%.

Prismatic batteries offer a viable alternative for providing energy for automobiles and other forms of e-mobility, which can address the growing concerns regarding environmental issues and can play a central role in driving the e-mobility ecosystem forward. Prismatic batteries are widely used in electric vehicles, mobile phones, tablets, and laptops, and the main advantage that they have got over conventional batteries is that they use less space than the cylindrical batteries because of their rectangular shape.

The new company will not only supply the batteries to Toyota but also to other customers. The new company will develop, manufacture, and sell high capacity output automotive prismatic lithium-ion batteries and develop high capacity batteries using solid-state cells. They will also develop, manufacture, and sell next-generation automotive batteries other than those which will be based on new principles.