BMW Says Toyota Partnership Showing Big Gains in Battery Tech

BMW’sBMWGermany, 1918 > present87 models
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head of marketing Ian Robertson says that its partnership with ToyotaToyotaJapan, 1937 > present155 models
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is starting to yield big steps in battery technology.

“The teams are working very well together. We are making some big steps, especially in battery performance and efficiency. We are now looking at how we can use the learnings together, because there’s no question they will make electric cars far more attractive,” said Robertson.

One of the goals of BMW and Toyota’s partnership is to develop lithium-air batteries for cars. In theory, the batteries would provide a doubling of battery power density, but until now, the batteries have only worked in lab settings.

He also said that their research into hydrogen fuel cells has progressed, but the technology will never really work until there is an infrastructure.

Robertson also revealed that work is progressing on the BMW/Toyota sports car project, but it is “still too far off to be talked about.”

Toyota announced yesterday that it would have the Verso on sale with a BMW diesel engine in Europe in early 2014.

Source: Autocar