Japan’s Panasonic and Toyota Motor said on Wednesday they will consider jointly developing batteries for electric vehicles.
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The move could help Panasonic extend its lead as the world’s largest automotive lithium-ion battery manufacturer.
The announcement builds on an existing agreement under which Panasonic manufactures batteries for Toyota’s gasoline hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
Toyota said last year it was planning add fully electric vehicles to its product line-up – a strategic shift away from its previous position that it saw fuel-cell vehicles and plug-in hybrids as the most sensible technologies to make cars greener.
(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu and Makiko Yamazaki; Editing by Edwina Gibbs)
