Prime Planet Energy & Solutions Inc., a joint venture between Toyota Motor Corp. and Panasonic Corp., has announced plans to boost production of batteries for electric vehicles at its plants in China and Japan in anticipation of greater demand spurred by the expansion of the global EV market.

The company declined to disclose the amount it will invest for the planned production increase.

A new production line will be installed at the existing plant of the company's Chinese subsidiary, Prime Planet Energy Dalian Co., in Dalian in the northeastern province of Liaoning to produce prismatic lithium-ion cells.

The new facility, capable of turning out such batteries to be installed in some 400,000 hybrid electric vehicles a year, is scheduled to start production this year.

The Tokyo-based joint venture will also set up a new line at its plant in Himeji, Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan, to produce prismatic lithium-ion cells, with an annual production capacity to provide batteries for approximately 80,000 EVs.

The company, set up in April 2020, is 51 percent owned by Toyota and the rest by Panasonic. (NNA/Kyodo)

==Kyodo

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