GS Yuasa: JV with Mitsubishi to invest Y30 bln in battery plant

TOKYO (Reuters) - GS Yuasa Corp said on Tuesday that Lithium Energy Japan, its venture with Mitsubishi Corp, will invest up to 30 billion yen ($385.6 million) to boost output of lithium ion batteries for electric vehicles such as Mitsubishi Motors Corp’s i-MiEV.

The investment will increase annual production capacity at Lithium Energy’s plant in Shiga Prefecture, western Japan, by 6.5 million cells, with shipments to start in the spring of 2013, it said.

Lithium Energy is now rushing to get another production facility at the same site online by April 2012, at which point its output will hit 12.5 million cells, or enough batteries to power 150,000 i-MiEVs, it said. ($1 = 77.8100 Japanese yen)