GS Yuasa and Honda to Establish Li-ion Battery Joint Company

GS Yuasa Corporation and Honda Motor announced on 17 December they reached a basic agreement to establish a joint company to develop and manufacture high performance lithium ion batteries for hybrid vehicles in spring 2009.

The capital for the joint company is approximately 15 billion yen, 51% invested by GS Yuasa and 49% by Honda. The new company will be headed in Minami-ku, Kyoto, Japan and the plant will be constructed inside GS Yuasa’s Osadano site in Fukuchiyama, Kyoto.

The joint company aims to develop high efficiency lithium ion batteries for next generation hybrid cars by improvement of GS Yuasa’s lithium ion battery “EH6.”

GS Yuasa also joints in Lithium Energy Japan, co-established by Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsubishi Motors Corporation in December 2007 to develop and manufacture large size lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles. The joint company is constructing a plant in Kusatsu, Shiga, Japan.