The companies Toshiba, Sojitz and CBMM simultaneously used the presentation of a bus to showcase a new type of battery. The electricity of the electric bus is stored in a lithium battery with an NTO anode.

NTO stands for niobium, titanium and oxygen. Niobium in particular makes the difference here. The element from the group of transition metals is not so easy to obtain in pure form because it is always combined with other elements as a mineral. But it is not very rare either, as one deposit in Brazil alone is said to contain around 460 million tons of it. It is no coincidence that the country is also the headquarters of the third partner CBMM.

The global availability of these batteries was announced in parallel for spring 2025. And while the energy density of 130 watt hours per kilogram is not exactly exhilarating, there are far more remarkable properties that are of practical use.

For example, the charging process from 10 to 80 percent should be completed in just 10 minutes. The smaller versions are even faster. In addition, the battery can actually be used between 0 and 100 percent and after 10,000 charging cycles, 80 percent capacity remains.

Even with a range of 100 kilometers per battery charge, almost 1 million kilometers of driving would be possible. In addition, the risk of fire and explosions should be minimized by the modified design.

The permissible operating temperatures, which range from -30 °C (-22 °F) to 60 °C ( 140 °F) with the niobium anode, are also not to be sneezed at. This should eliminate the need for additional battery tempering in most cases.

Without the need for cooling or heating and with full utilization of the capacity, the less record-breaking but at least solid energy density is a little better. It will be interesting to see in what quantities and at what prices the battery will be available.