ELIIY Begins Mass Production of Li-ion Batteries

Nikkei. Keio University spin-out ELIIY Power Co., Ltd. has begun operations at its new Li-ion battery manufacturing plant in Kawasaki. ELIIY plans to market stationary power systems for commercial and residential applications. (Earlier post.)

Built at a cost of roughly 5 billion yen, the plant can make lithium ion battery cells with a charge capacity of 150 watt-hours at a rate of 200,000 cells a year. A cell with that capacity can hold 60 times more charge than the tiny lithium ion batteries used in cell phones.

…In 2012, it will build an adjacent factory that will be capable of making 1 million cells a year. Once that plant starts up, Eliiy Power will also begin producing and marketing power-storage battery systems for homes…Taking advantage of the economies of scale, the firm will also develop low-cost lithium ion battery systems for electric vehicles.