On March 5, Toyota announced its agreement with Panasonic Holdings to acquire one of its joint ventures and turn it into a wholly owned subsidiary.
The joint venture, Primearth EV Energy (PEVE), produces batteries for gasoline hybrid vehicles and plans to expand its production to include batteries for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles.
The automaker has announced that it is acquiring the company to strengthen its capabilities in mass-producing automotive batteries. The deal is expected to be closed by the end of March.
Currently, Panasonic owns 19.5% of PEVE, while Toyota owns 80.5%. In Kosai, Shizuoka prefecture, and Taiwa, Miyagi prefecture, PEVE is a Japanese company that produces prismatic nickel-metal hydride (Ni-MH) and lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery packs for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).
“In addition to HEV batteries, PEVE plans to begin producing batteries for BEVs (battery EVs) and PHEVs (plug-in HEVs),” stated Toyota.
PEVE is able to produce approximately 200,000 Li-ion battery packs and 1.4 million Ni-MH battery packs annually domestically.
