Bosch & GS Yuasa on-target to double battery energy density & half costs by 2020

German supplier Robert Bosch and Japanese battery partner GS Yuasa Corp. are "on a good path" toward their goal of developing a lithium ion battery that costs half as much as today's batteries but has twice the energy density, a top Bosch executive said.

The companies aim to produce such a battery by 2020, Wolz said. "We are on a good path to reach that target," he told reporters.

Achieving such performance in automotive power packs will be a major breakthrough in popularizing electrified drivetrains, Wolz said.

Bosch is positioning vehicle electrification as a pillar of growth as carmakers tap batteries to meet increasingly stringent emissions regulations. The supplier expects hybrid and electric-only drivetrains to account for 15 percent of the global automotive market by 2020, Wolz said.

In 2013, GS Yuasa, Bosch and trading house Mitsubishi Corp. formed a joint venture to develop low-cost, high energy-density lithium ion batteries.

Bosch invests some 400 million euros in electromobility research and development each year.