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Toyota and Volkswagen have put their money behind opposing technologies as the high oil price makes hybrid cars a viable consumer option.
Volkswagen has partnered with Sanyo, the world’s largest manufacturer of rechargeable batteries, to develop a lithium-ion battery system for use in its hybrid vehicles.
Sanyo intends to open a new factory in 2010 that will have the capacity to produce enough batteries to power 1.75 million hybrid vehicles. The company also produces nickel metal hydride (NiMH) batteries for Ford.
Toyota’s technology partner, Panasonic, continues to produce NiMH batteries for the car maker’s hybrid range. The pair recently released details of their new battery plant north of Tokyo, which will produce 100,000 NiMH batteries a year by 2010.
Panasonic has been licensing the NiMH technology from Cobasys since 2005, but the patent is due to expire in 2015.
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