Toshiba in anticipation of strong future demand will construct a second dedicated production facility for its safe, long-life, rapid charge SCiB battery, in the Kashiwazaki Frontier Park, in Kashiwazaki city, Niigata prefecture.The market for lithium-ion batteries is expected to see significant demand growth, and to account for a growing share of a lithium-ion battery market scale that is expected to reach sales of approximately US$22 Billion worldwide in fiscal year 2015. Toshiba selected Kashiwazaki because of the city's commitment to realizing a low-carbon society by promoting electric vehicles (EV) and attracting EV-related businesses. The city is recognized as a model area for the "EV and plug-in hybrid vehicle (PHV) town," promoted by Japan's Ministry of Economy.
The total investment in construction and installation of manufacturing equipment will be in the region of US$280 Million. Construction is scheduled to start in April 2010, with a completion date of October 2010. In spring 2011, the plant will start to produce SCiB cells and modules for application in battery-powered electric vehicles (EV). The initial capacity of 500,000 cells a month is expected to rise when the automotive application market takes off in fiscal year 2011, allowing the plant to achieve significant cost reductions through mass production.
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