Sanyo To Increase Li-Ion Capacity Six-Fold

Sanyo Electric Co Ltd (6764.T) plans to build a lithium-ion battery plant in Japan at a cost of up to 30 billion yen ($315 million), according to a Reuters report citing the Nikkei business daily.

The plant is expected to increase the company’s production capacity six-fold for the batteries to be used in hybrid vehicles.

The new factory will be located in Hyogo, western Japan and Sanyo plans to start operations by March 2011, Nikkei said.

Once the new plant is online, Sanyo will have the capacity to power more than 120,000 cars per year, the report said.