Sanyo Electric of Japan will supply France's PSA Peugeot Citroën with batteries for its hybrid electric vehicles, the latest in a string of deals as carmakers seek to secure supplies of an electric car's most vital component.

Sanyo will supply nickel metal hydride batteries for the hybrid Peugeot 3008 and Citroën DS5, which are due to be manufactured in 2011. Sanyo declined to comment on a report in Japan's Nikkei newspaper that it will ship batteries for several tens of thousands of cars per year.