---
title: "Toyota and Panasonic Consider Teaming up on Electric-Car Batteries"
description: "This could be a battery dream team."
date: "2017-12-13"
modified: "2017-12-13"
authors:
  - name: "Stephen Edelstein"
    job_title: "Weekend Editor"
    link: "https://www.thedrive.com/authors/stephen-edelstein"
url: "https://www.thedrive.com/tech/16943/toyota-and-panasonic-consider-teaming-up-on-electric-car-batteries"
categories:
  - "Car Tech"
  - "Electric Vehicles"
  - "News"
  - "News by Brand"
  - "Toyota News"
tags:
  - "Electric Cars"
  - "Electric Vehicle"
  - "EV Batteries"
  - "Panasonic"
  - "Tech"
  - "Toyota"
---

# Toyota and Panasonic Consider Teaming up on Electric-Car Batteries

![](<https://www.thedrive.com/wp-content/uploads/images-by-url-td/content/2017/12/10_toyota0005.jpg>)
*\<em\>www.thedrive.com</em>*

Toyota and Panasonic will study the feasibility of a joint battery business, a move that could have big implications for future electric cars. The move signals that Toyota really is serious about embracing battery-electric cars, even as it [clings to hydrogen fuel cells](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/15435/despite-electric-car-developments-toyota-sticking-with-hydrogen-fuel-cells>) today.

The two companies will study the details of large-scale joint battery production. Panasonic currently supplies battery cells for Toyota hybrids and plug-in hybrids, but the automaker will need a much larger supply of batteries in the coming years.

At a joint press conference announcing the deal, Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda said the company hopes to sell 4.5 million hybrids and plug-in hybrids by 2030, along with a million battery-electric cars and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles. Toyota has been a staunch advocate of fuel cells, but more recently it began discussing plans for [a mass-market battery-powered car](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/12826/toyota-planning-long-range-electric-car-powered-by-solid-state-batteries-report-says>) as well.

That electric car [will be powered by solid-state batteries](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/15584/toyotas-solid-state-battery-lifespan-disappoints-face-still-more-challenges>), which are often discussed but haven't been successfully commercialized yet. Solid-state batteries are said to offer a number of advantages, including increased energy density, meaning batteries can store more electricity without increasing their physical size. Unlike the liquid electrolyte used in conventional lithium-ion batteries, the solid electrolyte that gives solid-state batteries their name also isn't flammable.

An alliance with Panasonic could help Toyota commercialize solid-state batteries. Panasonic is currently the [sole battery supplier to Tesla](<https://www.thedrive.com/tech/15618/panasonic-forecasts-production-increase-at-tesla-gigafactory>), and a partner in the Silicon Valley automaker's massive Nevada "[Gigafactory](<https://www.thedrive.com/article/13297/teslas-gigafactory-is-already-dominating-ev-battery-production>)," so it knows a thing or two about large-scale battery production. If solid-state batteries live up to the hype, they could give Toyota and Panasonic a major advantage over their rivals. Imagine former electric-car naysayer Toyota eventually taking the lead in the segment. Stranger things have happened.

## Author
Stephen has always been passionate about cars, and managed to turn that passion into a career as a freelance automotive journalist. When he's not handling weekend coverage for The Drive, you can find him looking for a new book to read.

### Author social links  
[Twitter](<https://twitter.com/SAEdelstein>)