Panasonic announced that it will supply lithium-ion batteries for Toyota’s eQ electric car.
Toyota said Monday it will offer an electric compact called eQ (the iQ EV in the U.S.) in December though the number of the vehicles made will be extremely limited — about 100 for special fleet use. The iQ EV is priced at 3.6 million yen ($45,000) and has a limited cruise range of 100 kilometers (62 miles).
Panasonic is already supplying nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) batteries for hybrid electric vehicles to a growing number of automotive manufacturers around the world, as well as lithium-ion batteries for hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles.
Panasonic has already supplied lithium-ion batteries to Toyota’s Prius Plug-in Hybrid and Prius hybrid.
The supply agreement with Toyota now expands to an all-electric vehicle model as well as hybrid and plug-in hybrid models.
