Toyota recently announced that it’s creating a new in-house unit which will be tasked with developing electric cars, it goes to show that the Japanese auto giant is serious about competing in this market. The company has now said that it’s aiming to develop advanced electric car batteries “in a few years” which will provide 15 percent greater range and battery life than existing batteries.
“Lithium-ion battery is a key technology for electrifying cars, and there is a clear need, going forward, for improving this technology and its performance even more,” said Toyota battery technology researcher Hisao Yamashige during a media briefing earlier today.
Lithium-ion battery packs are used to power electric cars. Improving the performance of these batteries is easier said than done. It takes a significant amount of time and resources to make that happen and clearly Toyota is willing to invest into this aim.
Toyota isn’t alone in its quest to develop more advanced and efficient electric car batteries. Many automakers and battery manufacturers are also working on similar projects to advance the cause of electric cars.
Toyota engineers have been able to see in “real time” how lithium ions move inside the electrodes using techniques developed in collaboration with four universities in Japan and one of the country’s publicly-financed laboratories. This insight will enable engineers to come up with new designs that prevent lithium ions from unevenly moving and limiting battery life by bunching up in the electrodes.
Filed in . Read more about Electric Cars and Toyota. Source: ca.reuters