While Toyota faces stiff competition with its hybrids in Singapore, it dominates with ease in the Japan market. Showcasing its Fuel Cell Vehicle (FCV) at the Tokyo Motor Show 2011, Toyota plans to have the car ready by 2015 and at a reasonable price.

You would think that the battery plant, Primeearth EV Energy (PEVE) includes a tour on how the Japanese car manufacturer builds their hybrid cars. Instead, it brings over 40 journalists from 13 different countries on a tour of how the battery in Toyota cars is made. Clean, automated and accurate best describes what I reckon the place to be.

We had to put on a shower cap followed by a yellow mash cap (very Japanese), shoe cover and an overhaul before we got into a room where we got ourselves cleared of dust. In the factory itself, translators were busy helping us better understand how a battery pack was made. It sent a clear message of how much pride the Japanese had in their work. The automated machines are accurate to the last dot and are seamlessly working to meet the very mechanical needs of the battery.

When asked what was the lifespan of a battery in a hybrid was, Executive General Manager of Toyota Motor Corporation, Satoshi Ogiso confidently replied that it would only lost 20% of its power every 5 years, making it last for more than 20 years, or a car