Mitsubishi has announced that it will build a lithium-ion plant to meet an expected fivefold increase in demand for car batteries, Automotive News reports. Set to open sometime after April 2009, the plant will have an initial capacity of 200,000 cells per year, which is enough for 2,000 cars.

Afterward, the report said that Mitsubishi will increase production so that they could outfit 10,000 vehicles per year "shortly afterward," the company said in a statement. This coincides with the manufacturer's recent launch of its i MiEV electric vehicle, which runs on lithium ion batteries and will go on sale in Japan next summer. Mitsubishi also plans to test the car this year in California in order to evaluate whether or not it will bring the car stateside.