Sanyo Electric announced the construction of a new technical facility for lithium-ion batteries on the premises of the Tokushima Plant, Sanyo’s development and production site for lithium-ion batteries. Construction of the new facility will begin in May of this year, and will be completed in November, 2010. The Tokushima Plant has become main site for the technical development and production of lithium-ion batteries.

However, with the increasingly diversified requirements for lithium-ion batteries, it has become necessary to expand the development space, as well as to improve measurement instruments and equipment necessary for the trial manufacture and evaluation of new batteries. The new facility will provide space for the setup of all kinds of equipment for the trial production and performance evaluation of batteries, as well as to accommodate the office of the lithium-ion battery technology department.

The company is also investigating the introduction of equipment for the verification of mass-production technologies for new batteries in the future. The construction of the new facility will further increase the capabilities for developing new materials and manufacturing technologies.