Toyota Tsusho set to receive HiporeTM lithium-ion battery separator from Asahi Kasei for their battery production.
In a significant move towards the acceleration of electrification in North America, Asahi Kasei, a diversified global manufacturer, and Toyota Tsusho have established a strategic partnership for the supply of automotive lithium-ion battery separators. This collaboration, an important step towards realizing a sustainable mobility society, was announced recently.
Asahi Kasei will supply HiporeTM lithium-ion battery separators to Toyota Tsusho, as reported in the latest Batteries News. The partnership will facilitate the manufacture of higher-performance electric vehicles.
As part of its strategy to support growing demand in North America, Asahi Kasei is constructing a battery separator coating plant in Canada. This facility, announced in May 2024, is being developed alongside U.S. plants to strengthen Asahi Kasei’s presence in the North American battery ecosystem. The Canadian plant primarily serves Honda, while a separate coating plant under construction in Charlotte, North Carolina, will supply Toyota Tsusho in the U.S. with Hipore wet-process lithium-ion battery separators starting mid-2027.
The partnership involves Asahi Kasei Battery Separator America, LLC (AKBSA) and Toyota Tsusho America, Inc. (TAI). The agreement entitles TAI to a preferential share of AKBSA's production capacity for HiporeTM LIB separator.
This alliance aligns with Asahi Kasei’s global growth strategy, as stated by Ryu Taniguchi, Lead Executive Officer of Asahi Kasei and responsible for the company's separator business. The partnership will help Asahi Kasei mitigate the risk of market fluctuations and effectively utilize resources by maintaining high rates of operation.
The partnership aims to build and strengthen a supply chain in North America with partners and capture medium- to long-term growth opportunities in the electrified vehicle market. This strategic partnership is expected to accelerate the adoption of high-quality wet-process separator in the North American battery market, furthering the efforts towards electrification and sustainability goals.
However, the exact timeline for the construction of the Canadian facility and the beginning of the supply of coated HiporeTM separator from AKBSA's new coating facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, have not been precisely detailed in the available information.
The source of the news about Asahi Kasei supplying HiporeTM lithium-ion battery separator to Toyota Tsusho is unspecified in the text. Kazuyuki Urata, COO of Toyota Tsusho's Circular Economy Division, has stated that this collaboration is an important step toward the acceleration of electrification in North America and the realization of a sustainable mobility society.
Toyota Tsusho aims to leverage its global network and expertise in the mobility field to build a highly reliable automotive Lithium-ion battery supply chain, thereby creating a foundation to support the spread of electrified vehicles and the reduction of their environmental impact. This partnership is a significant step in that direction.
- The partnership between Asahi Kasei and Toyota Tsusho, involving lithium-ion battery separators, signals a stepped-up effort towards the electrification of vehicles in North America, contributing to the realization of a sustainable mobility society.
- Asahi Kasei's business strategy includes the construction of a battery separator coating plant in Canada and a separate facility in Charlotte, North Carolina, to cater to growing demand in the automotive industry and the production of electric vehicles.
- The collaboration in the technology sector between Asahi Kasei and Toyota Tsusho is expected to further the adoption of high-quality battery separators in the North American market, advance the goals of electrification and sustainability, and strengthen the supply chain in the energy sector, thereby minimizing the impact on the environment.
