electronrun.com

The automotive industry has been many times described as old and out of fashion. It is not a secret that in many cases automotive companies had to be virtual dragged by customer demand or sheer competition for  new innovations and features. In the last two decades the value percentage attributed to car electronics is steadily rising. But whereas demand for on-board electronics for navigation and entertainment is skyrocketing, satisfying environmental legislation proves even more critical for market survival and requires new strategies and previously unthinkable partners.

Thus the new Volkswagen-Sanyo partnership that will furnish initially Audi and later Volkswagen, Seat and Skoda cars with lithium-ion batteries for hybrid versions of their models. The two companies will jointly develop batteries that will start to be produced in Sanyo facilities in 2010. The fact that the VW Groups skips nickel metal hydride batteries currently used by competitors, shows that it takes the hybrid game very seriously. Lithium-ion batteries are lighter and perform better, something already proven in mobile devices, and critical for automotive applications.

Development and a new factory will cost Sanyo roughly €500 million up to 2015. The benefits to be ripped are huge as the new facilities will equip 1.7 to 1.8 million vehicles annually. Prospects are looking great, as hybrids are currently the only realistic way of reducing the environmental footprint of car fleets and the example of the Toyota Prius has already shown that the demand is already there and increases by the day.

There will be definitely more news on automotive-electronics company partnerships as the new scene more or less implies such business moves. Needless to say that safety parameters need to be refreshed to take account of the new technology. A defective exploding small laptop battery is one thing, problems with automotive applications would be much more dangerous and easily tarnish the supplier’s image.

The decision to start from Audi hybrids is predictable, as ElectronRun has already written about Audi’s plans for all-electric cars. It however kicks off Volkswagen hybrid technology as a premium feature that will not go down very well with consumers that want greener cars at realistic purchase levels. That should not however be cause for worry, as competition can change company plans from one day to another…

[Bloomberg via CNET]