Toyota and Panasonic eye joint development of new EV batteries

Japan`s Panasonic Corp and Toyota Motor Corp said on Wednesday they will consider jointly developing batteries for electric vehicles.

The move could help Panasonic extend its lead as the world`s largest automotive lithium-ion battery manufacturer.

The announcement builds on an existing agreement under which Panasonic manufactures batteries for Toyota`s gasoline hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

Toyota said last year it was planning add fully electric vehicles to its product line-up - a strategic shift away from its previous position that it saw fuel-cell vehicles and plug-in hybrids as the most sensible technologies to make cars greener.