Hitachi Receives Order for Lithium-ion Battery Systems from General Motors

March 5, 2008 – Vol. 12 No. 50

Hitachi Receives Order for Lithium-ion Battery Systems from General Motors.

The battery systems will be installed annually in more than 100,000 hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV), which are scheduled to launch in North America market in 2010. Hitachi says it will try to exploit the opportunity of the GM order to expand its lithium-ion battery business and increase sales of HEV motors and inverters.

With stricter environmental regulations and rising concern about fuel economy worldwide, Hitachi expects the global market for HEVs to continue expanding from the 410,000 unit level recorded in 2006 to 1.5 million units in 2010. Hitachi estimates that demand for HEV lithium-ion batteries will overtake that for the current mainstream nickel metal hydride batteries in 2015.

Hitachi has supplied the market with more than 200,000 cells since 2000. The lithium-ion batteries for GM will be supplied by Hitachi Vehicle Energy, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. (3/5/08)

Links:

Hitachi
http://www.hitachi.com

From China with Hybrids

Disclaimer, Forward-Looking or Safe Harbor Statement on original press release: No