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Power play: Part 2 of 2; Technical problems with lithium ion batteries await answers as startups take on established makers.(Special Report)
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Automotive News
- Article date:
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November 20, 2006
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Copyright informationCOPYRIGHT 2006 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Richard Truett
Battery companies
Nearly all nickel-metal hydride batteries used in today's hybrid vehicles are made in Japan by Sanyo, Panasonic EV, Hitachi, Matsushita and others. Since the late 1970s, the Japanese government has spent around $20 million financing research into lithium ion batteries.
Though gains were slow at first, Japanese battery manufacturers have made lithium ion batteries seven times more powerful than they were in 1975, according to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
A ministry study group on next-generation vehicle batteries set a performance target that calls for a dramatic drop in costs combined with a big ...