Mitsubishi has chosen Toshiba’s rechargeable battery for two new electric vehicles coming out later this year – the lower-priced version of the i-MiEV and MINICAB-MiEV.
Toshiba said it will manufacture the SCiB used in Mitsubishi’s new electric cars at its specialized SCiB plant in northern Japan, which opened in February.
Last year, the two companies had announced they were working together to bring the SCiB batteries to EVs.
Mitsubishi plans to roll out the lower-priced version of the i-MiEV electric car this summer with the retail price 2,000,000 yen (about $25,000). The range of the new model will be shortened to around 120 kilometers (75 miles) on a single charge, as fewer batteries will be installed to reduce costs.
The Toshiba SCiB rechargeable lithium-ion battery combines high levels of safety with a long life, rapid charging and excellent charging and output at very low temperatures, characteristics that make it highly suited to application in EV.
Toshiba developed the SCiB to meet a series of demanding performance and safety criteria. By successfully employing lithium titanate oxide in the anode, Toshiba has assured that the SCiB offers high level operating safety, a long life and rapid charging. The use of lithium titanate oxide also significantly reduces the possibility of a puncture in the separator between the anode and cathode, so minimizing the risk of them coming into contact and short circuiting, and maintains battery performance levels even in severe operating conditions, including very low temperatures.
The SCiB pushes the life of the lithium-ion battery to a new level by supporting 2.5 times more charge/discharge cycles than a typical lithium-ion battery. Recharging is also notably better. Charged with the highest current available with CHAdeMO, widely seen as the emerging standard for fast charging EV, an SCiB reaches about 80 percent of full capacity in some 15 minutes, about 50% in 10 minutes and about 25% in 5 minutes – half the times of a typical lithium-ion battery charged under the same conditions. The SCiB also generates little heat while recharging, eliminating the need for power to cool the battery module.
