Volkswagen’s upcoming new line of small electric cars will see their electric drive trains developed in concert with Japan’s Toshiba Corporation.

According to Volkswagen, their goal is to produce the first affordable electric car. They admit that while there is a still a lot of research and development required in order for them to be able to mass produce such an electric car, they expect their first model to be available as early as 2012.

Toshiba’s lithium-ion batteries will power the new line of Volkswagen electric cars and will use their Super Charge Ion Battery (SCIB) technology. The SCIB is resistant to shorting and can impressively absorb 90 percent of its maximum charge in only a few minutes.

Toshiba will also be looking for other places to make use of the SCIB technology like electric bikes and electric industrial vehicles.