Entry into the Environmental and Energy Solutions Business - Capital and Business Alliances with L-B. Engineering Japan, a Developer of Storage Batteries -

In January 2024, I-PEX Inc. (Head Office: Kyoto City, Kyoto Prefecture; Representative Director, President and Executive Officer: Takaharu Tsuchiyama; TSE Prime Market Code No.: 6640; hereinafter referred to as “I-PEX”) has announced that it has invested in L-B. Engineering Japan Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director and President: Shigeaki Kato; hereinafter referred to as “L-B. Engineering”) to advance the development of a battery management system (BMS) suitable for reusable lithium-ion batteries and a control system for entire storage batteries, including IoT technology, consequently aiming to create disaster-resilient cities and smart cities and implement them in a Mobility as a Service (MaaS) society.

In the I-PEX Vision 2030, a medium- to long-term plan based on its corporate identity, I-PEX positions “Contribution to a comfortable and safe digital society through innovation” and “Contribution to measures against climate change and respond to a recycling-based society” as important issues for medium- to long-term value creation. In addition to the safety and functionality of lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles, we have focused on the fact that reusing them can reduce environmental burden, and have been developing BMSs suitable for reusing lithium-ion batteries.

As the first step in the environmental and energy solutions business, we will collaborate with L-B. Engineering to develop a storage battery system equipped with reusable lithium-ion batteries that can be used for BCP measures in the event of a disaster. Going forward, we will deepen our environmental and energy solutions in order to create new value toward the creation of a safe, secure and comfortable society that connects people with people and people with things, and a decarbonized society through the reduction of resource consumption and waste.

In the circular economy of automotive lithium-ion batteries, lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles are expected to be converted to reusable lithium-ion batteries, used as power sources for various applications, and then recycled as raw materials for newly manufactured batteries when the batteries are finished their applications as storage batteries.

I-PEX will collaborate with L-B. Engineering to develop a storage battery system that matches the maximum battery capacity of reusable lithium-ion batteries and provide solutions that utilize reusable lithium-ion batteries with the aim to contribute to a circular economy with automotive lithium-ion batteries.

The company was founded by Mr. Shigeaki Kato, who worked for Nissan Motor for more than 30 years in automobile manufacturing, mainly on electric vehicles and lithium-ion batteries. The company focuses on the potential of lithium-ion batteries and is planning and developing storage battery systems for various applications.