Lithium Energy Japan Commits to Construction of New Li-ion Plant with Annual Capacity for 50,000 i MiEVs
14 April 2010
Lithium Energy Japan (LEJ), the joint venture between GS Yuasa Corp., Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp, will build a new Plant in Ritto City, Shiga Pref., Japan; start of production is targeted for early 2012. The new plant—LEJ’s largest to date—will produce 4.4 million cells a year, enough to equip 50,000 Mitsubishi i-MiEV EVs with their 16 kWh packs.
The total investment in plant and equipment will amount to ¥37.5 billion (US$401 million).
LEJ commenced mass production at its Kusatsu Plant 1st Line last June, and has since been operating at full capacity, producing 200,000 cells (enough for 2,300 EVs) a year. The 2nd Line will begin operations this June, enabling LEJ to ship an additional 400,000 cells (enough for 4,500 EVs), bringing LEJ’s annual production from Kusatsu up to 600,000 cells (enough for 6,800 EVs).
Furthermore, LEJ has started investing in a production line at its Kyoto works (GS Yuasa’s Kyoto Office), and from December 2010, will produce 1 million cells a year (enough for 11,000 EVs). LEJ has succeeded in developing technologies to produce the large capacity lithium-ion cells in the specially designed mass production line, and is now prepared to launch full-scale operations capable of meeting the needs of more than 10,000 EVs per year.
By the second half of fiscal year 2012, when the Ritto Plant begins operations, LEJ will be capable of producing 6 million cells (enough for 67,800 EVs) through these three production bases of Kusatsu, Kyoto, and Ritto. LEJ aims to expand its Japanese operations to accommodate 100,000 EVs per year in the future.
| LEJ Capital Investments | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Line Kusatu Plant | 2nd Line Kusatu Plant | Kyoto Plant | Ritto Plant | |||
| Location | Kusatu City, Shiga | Minami-ku, Kyoto | Ritto City, Shiga | |||
| Building space | 7,900 m2 | 1,900 m2 | 13,000 m2 | 45,000 m2 | ||
| Annual production capacity | 0.2 million cells | 0.4 million cells | 1.0 million cells | 4.4 million cells | ||
| i-MiEV battery pack equivalents | 2,300 | 4,500 | 11,000 | 50,000 | ||
| Start of shipping | June 2009 | June 2010 | December 2010 | Early 2012 | ||
| Capital investment | ¥3.3 billion | ¥4.2 billion | ¥6.7 billion | ¥37.5 billion | ||
For its construction of the Ritto plant, LEJ will receive the maximum subsidy of ¥5 billion (US$53.4 million) under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry’s “Regional Development Subsidy Program for ‘Green’ Companies Towards Employment Creation” for the fiscal year 2009.
LEJ seems to produce large cells, i.e 88 cells for 16 KWh = 182 Wh per cell. All those plants seems to produce only 70 000, 16 KWh battery packs per year. The investment to produce enough battery packs for 50+ million PHEV/BEV a year would be very substantial.
Posted by: HarveyD | 14 April 2010 at 06:24 AM