Tokyo, October 23, 2009 – Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT / TSE:6501) announced that Hitachi Vehicle Energy, Ltd. (“Hitachi Vehicle Energy”; Hitachi-naka City, Ibaraki Pref.; President: Hidetaka Kawamoto), a Hitachi Group company that develops and manufactures lithium-ion (“Li-ion”) batteries for hybrid electric vehicles and other applications, has completed construction of a volume production line for 3rd-generation automotive Li-ion batteries. This line has the capacity to produce 300,000 cells per month, which in combination with an existing line (capacity: 40,000 cells/month) will enable Hitachi Vehicle Energy to supply a total of 340,000 cells per month. The output density of the cells produced is 3,000W/kg, which is about 15% higher than 2nd-generation cells. This represents the world's top-class level1 of power density for Li-ion batteries that can be volume-produced. The line is scheduled to become fully operational starting from 2010.
