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Lithium-ion battery overheats on Mitsubishi Motors hybrid

TOKYO, March 27 (Reuters) - A lithium-ion battery on a single Mitsubishi Motors Corp Outlander plug-in hybrid overheated last week, the Japanese carmaker said on Wednesday, as the technology faces scrutiny following failures on Boeing Co 787 Dreamliner jets.

The hybrid was being charged for delivery when the battery, which was supplied from joint venture owned by Japan's GS Yuasa Corp, Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsubishi Motors, was found damaged and emitting a strange odour. The incident caused no injuries or damage to the dealership.

Kyoto-based GS Yuasa is also the maker of lithium-ion batteries for the Dreamliner jet, which has been grounded since January after two power packs on separate aircraft overheated.

A Mitsubishi Motors official said at a briefing in Tokyo that the Outlander battery is made in different factory and has a different design from the ones used by Boeing.

Mitsubishi Motors, which has delivered around 4,000 Outlanders and has orders for 8,000 more vehicles, will halt production and deliveries to determine the cause of the problem. The stoppage is estimated to take a week or two, the official said.