Automakers seek battery ties as cars go electric

TOKYO (Reuters) – Rechargeable batteries could become the core technology for the auto industry if pure electric cars enter the mainstream — a prospect that has carmakers racing to team up with battery makers.

Auto executives say that with fewer moving parts, easy-to-assemble electric cars may also lower the bar for entry into the cut-throat autos industry and make battery manufacturers the unlikely competitors for car giants.

“I’ve said for years that Toyota’s rival will be Hitachi,” said Kenichiro Senoo, a professor at the Research Center for Advanced Science and Technology at the University of Tokyo.

“Or that in 2016, you’d be able to buy a car assembly kit in Akihabara,” he said, referring to Tokyo’s famous electronics shopping district.

Already, China’s battery maker-cum-automaker BYD Co has entered the scene, bad news for automakers whose expertise lies in the complex task of fitting together thousands of components into a safe and reliable vehicle.

Reuters