"Toyota Chairman Speech at Battery Inauguration: Emphasis on Pacific-Transversing Battery Development"
In a significant move towards electrification and carbon neutrality, Toyota Battery was officially relaunched on October 1st at the Kosai Battery Park (Arai Plant). The ceremony, attended by around 100 guests, including employees, Kosai City Mayor Takeshi Kageyama, and other local stakeholders, marked a new chapter in Toyota's electrification journey.
The company, previously known as Primearth EV Energy Co., Ltd., has been a significant contributor to Toyota's electrification efforts since the first-generation Prius launched in 1997. Following a capital increase by Toyota in June 2010, the company was renamed Primearth EV Energy Co., Ltd. The new company will now undertake battery production for both hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs).
Speaking at the ceremony, the company's president, Masamichi Okada, pledged to drive the Toyota Group's electrification. Okada mentioned contributing to the multi-pathway strategy with batteries for HEVs, PHEVs, BEVs, and secondary batteries for fuel cell vehicles. The new company aims to boost Japan's competitiveness in the battery industry while spearheading the group's battery business.
The site of the ceremony is a 30-minute drive from JR Hamamatsu Station and along the "Battery Road." The history of Toyota Battery includes a capital increase due to the HEV market expansion in October 2005, increasing Toyota's ownership to 60% and Panasonic Holdings' to 40%. The Panasonic EV Energy Co. was established in December 1996, with Toyota holding 40% ownership and Panasonic Holdings holding 60%. However, in March, Primearth EV Energy (PEVE) became a wholly-owned Toyota subsidiary.
Japan has long possessed strengths in battery technologies, being the first country to commercialize lithium-ion batteries. The new company's president, Okada, expressed a hope that the new company may one day create the batteries envisioned by Sakichi Toyoda in Kosai. Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyota Industries, offered a prize of 1 million yen in 1925 for battery development capable of flying an airplane across the Pacific Ocean.
Mayor Kageyama spoke about Kosai City's philosophy of gratitude and creativity, and harnessing the power of batteries produced by Toyota Battery for community and industry development. The rapid growth of Chinese and South Korean companies in the battery sector poses a challenge to Japan's competitiveness, but the new Toyota Battery aims to rise to the occasion.
Batteries are crucial for achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and competition over public and private sector investment is intensifying worldwide, including in Europe and the United States. The new company's commitment to electrification and its focus on boosting Japan's competitiveness in the battery industry are a positive step towards a sustainable future.
Technology plays a crucial role in the new Toyota Battery's focus on boosting Japan's competitiveness in the data-and-cloud-computing-intensive battery industry, as the company aims to leverage advanced technology to improve battery production efficiency and quality.
OKADA, the new company's president, highlighted the importance of technology in spearheading the group's battery business, mentioning the multi-pathway strategy with batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and secondary batteries for fuel cell vehicles.
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