Volkswagen, Sanyo cooperate on Lithium Ion batteries
Christoph Hammerschmidt
EE Times Europe
05/28/2008 9:38 AM
MUNICH, Germany — Volkswagen AG and Japanese electronics group Sanyo will
jointly develop highly efficient lithium ion batteries for use in hybrid
drive cars and, eventually, in all-electric cars.
In the development of energy-saving hybrid drives as well as all-electric
cars, the energy storage hitherto is the main hurdle. In order to overcome
that obstacle, automotive OEMs are feverishly working on implementing
lithium ion batteries at sizes and power dimensions relevant for cars.
Besides Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW already have announced to work on
similar developments.
"Besides more efficient combustion engines, we also plan to focus more on
electrically-driven cars," Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn said in a press
statement, calling the 'electrification' of the car the right way to secure
mobility in tomorrow's environment.
The Sanyo collaboration is directed towards the development of hybrid drive
systems, a company spokesperson said. However, it will be very likely that
the company will also unlock synergies for the development of all-electric
vehicles. He declined to comment on the size and other technical properties
of the batteries to be developed. The first volume cars equipped with litium
ion batteries jointly developed with Sanyo will be produced in 2010, he
said.
At the Geneva Automotive Salon in March, Volkswagen had shown a hybrid car
study based on the company's Golf TDI volume model. Volkswagen subsidiary
Audi had presented a complete power train section in its A1 quattro light
vehicle designed for a cruising range of more than 100 kilometers.
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