BMW and Toyota Working Together on Lithium Battery Research

BMW and Toyota have been very friendly recently, the BMW will be sharing diesels with Toyota in Europe in 2014. Plus, a few months ago, Toyota opened its own lithium mine in Argentina so that it can supply its own raw materials for batteries - 16.6 thousand tons of lithium per year according to Toyota. So it makes sense that BMW and Toyota have just announced plans to coordinate on lithium battery research. 

The deal between Toyota and BMW says that the companies will work together to research next-generation lithium-ion batteries. They want to increase the performance and capacity of lithium-ion batteries through the use of new materials like cathodes, anodes and electrolytes. 

BMW already has a deal with PSA to co-develop electric motors and hybrid systems.