Hitachi to raise lithium-ion battery output 70-fold – Nikkei | Reuters:

“Hitachi has already received orders for lithium-ion batteries for 100,000 hybrid autos that General Motors (GMGMQ.PK) plans to sell from next year, Nikkei said.

With an eye toward winning orders from domestic and other overseas carmakers, Hitachi will bolster capacity to meet the needs of 700,000 hybrids a year, the paper said.”

In our research, Hitachi ranked behind:
Panasonic
Mitsubishi
Sanyo
NGK
Fuji
Sony
Samsung and
Toshiba

As far as how many patents they’ve been granted. If those corporations holding more patents than Hitachi are receiving similar orders, this could be good news for the industry.

Cleantech may have seen the worst, rebounding to $1.2B in 2Q09 | Cleantech Group:

“The global cleantech sector may have seen the worst, according to data released today by the Cleantech Group in conjunction with accounting firm Deloitte.

Second quarter results for cleantech venture investment total $1.2 billion across 94 companies, indicating a rebound from the previous two quarters, which were down corresponding with other investment sectors affected by the credit crisis, liquidity issues and a lack of exits. But it’s too early to tell whether the rebound can be sustained.”

Perhaps as stimulus monies begin to be allocated, and actually used, interest cleantech will continue to grow.

Toyota Prius Sales Outpace Honda Insight 6-Fold – AllCarsElectric.com: “In the month of June Honda posted 2079 Insight sales whereas the Prius (old and new) garnered a rather robust 12,900 units sold, over 6 times more. Honda actually sold 2780 Insights in May.”

If it comes to capacitors in vehicles, however, it’s Honda who clearly has the upper hand. Check out the capacitor report at Sunlight Research.