Two new battery plants due in Japan

NAGOYA, Japan, May 24 (UPI) -- Toyota Motor Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. plan to build two car battery plants in Japan, sources say.

Sources said the two companies, who work through the joint venture Panasonic EV Energy Co., will use the plants to create products for environmentally friendly hybrid vehicles, the Kyoto News Service said Saturday.

The plan to create additional lithium-ion batteries will include a new plant in Shizuoka Prefecture, where the joint venture has a plant that produces nickel-metal hydride batteries.

The new plants would mark the most recent attempt by the global automaker to gain an advantage in the race to create the most efficient batteries for hybrid automobiles, the news service said.

The sources said the construction of the Shizuoka plant could begin in 2010 and the creation of a similar plant in the Miyagi Prefecture could start in 2011.