Toshiba Accelerates Development of SCiB Rechargeable Battery for Electric Vehicles

Toshiba today announced that it is working with Mitsubishi Motors to bring the SCiB battery to electric vehicles (EV). The SCiB is Toshiba's breakthrough rechargeable lithium-ion battery that combines high levels of safety with a long life and rapid recharging, characteristics that make it highly suited to application in electric vehicles.

The SCiB module now under development houses the SCiB cells that utilizes the capabilities of the SCiB to the full: It optimizes usage of individual cells in the battery and this, along with the long life cycle of the SCiB, adds to the overall durability of the battery over different cruising distances.

In bringing the SCiB to EV, Toshiba has developed a new original anode material and a new electrolyte that enhances both safety and rapid recharging. The long life of the SCiB will promote reduction in the waste that results from battery replacement and will contribute to a society that is required to save energy and reduce environmental loads.

Toshiba positions the SCiB as a new business with promising long term growth potential—and one that is already showing its versatility, as the SCiB has already been selected for an electric bicycle, an electric motorcycle, and as part of the power storage in a microgrid system.

Toshiba will produce SCiB for industrial applications, including EV and power storage, at Kashiwazaki Operations, a new facility in Niigata prefecture that is slated to start production in 2011. In the EV sector, Toshiba will move ahead by establishing an operating structure for promoting sales and marketing activities that will secure orders and allow it to respond quickly to market growth.