Hitachi seems to have made a major leap forward in the development of “green” vehicles. The company claims it has developed the world’s most efficient lithium-ion battery for hybrid cars, topping previous Hitachi batteries by an impressive 70% in output density.

The picture shows a lithium-ion battery module made by Hitachi last year (there is no picture of the new version available yet). The new battery boasts an output density of 4,500W. Hitachi plans to commercialize it by the middle of next year, along with a weaker (and probably cheaper) version that reaches only half of the power of the newest prototype.

Hitachi says the life span of the battery exceeds 10 years, which is 20% longer than that of the previous model. The company is the world’s first to mass-produce large li-ion batteries and has managed to sell 600,000 units since the year 2000.

Via Nikkei [JP]