Toyota Will Delay Lithium Battery Intro in Hybrids

I don't know what "from next year" means...is it supposed to be "for" next year?

In any case, this is a contract to " In an effort to speed time-to-market the companies will jointly explore various aspects of lithium ion battery technology."

IOW, they're just starting the process. While they may be able to combine efforts and get something to market faster than they otherwise would have independently it's certainly not a a certainty that it can happen in a year. In fact, I think it highly unlikely that they'll be able to develop, test, safety test, vehicle test and get to market in that time frame. At least to do that and be sure the product is safe and durable and reliable seems very very unlikely.