The prismatic cell with a capacity of 60Ah
Volume production will start at Kashiwazaki Operations in February 2011.
Toshiba Corp announced Sept 29, 2010, that it has developed a prismatic cell with a capacity of 60Ah as a lithium-ion (Li-ion) rechargeable battery targeted at photovoltaic systems and electric vehicles.
The company plans to start shipping samples within fiscal 2010.
Though Toshiba did not disclose the details of the cell, its charging speed, life and low-temperature characteristics are equivalent to those of the company's previous product, and its energy density per volume was enhanced by about 30% to 230-270Wh/L. Its energy density per weight was not disclosed.
The high capacity of 60Ah will enable to apply the cell to large-scale electric storage systems used for photovoltaic power plants and smart grids as well as to improve the distance capable of being traveled by electric vehicles, Toshiba said.
Also, Toshiba celebrated the opening of its Kashiwazaki Operations in Kashiwazaki City, Niigata Prefecture, Japan. It is a manufacturing base for Li-ion rechargeable batteries like Saku Operations in Saku City, Nagano Prefecture. The company plans to establish production lines and start production of cells and modules targeted at electric cars, etc in February 2011.
The production capacity of Kashiwazaki Operations is 500,000 cells per month at first, and 20Ah cells will be mass-produced for electric vehicles. And Toshiba intends to increase the production capacity to one million cells per month or more within fiscal 2011. The company aims to achieve a sales volume of ¥200 billion (approx US$2.39 billion) in its Li-ion battery business in fiscal 2015.
