Volkswagen wants to become the first car manufacturer to mass produce emissions-free cars announcing last week that it is teaming up with Toshiba. They plan to jointly develop electric drive units and other elements that VW said will allow it to become the first manufacturer of an affordable electric vehicle.

VW's planned New Small Family of vehicles are still in the concept stage according to the company and need more research and development particularly for smaller but more powerful lithium-ion batteries.

A spokesman for VW said that research into lithium-ion battery technology was now being done with further potential technological partners alongside Toshiba.

It is interesting to see the pairing of automotive and laptop computer battery expertise. Another company, Electrovaya has also been demonstrating its patented lithium–ion SuperPolymer® battery technology in automotive applications initially developed for use in laptop applications.

Electrovaya recently announced a deal with a company in Norway to demonstrate the battery technology in the field. One of Miljobil’s significant investors is Norsk Hydro/Statoil, one of the largest energy companies in the world.
http://www.miljobil.no/english

Interesting that these large entities are all embracing Lithium-ion based batteries as the power source for electric cars.