Toyota: $3.8 billion investment in US battery factory

By the end of 2021, Toyota has announced a new battery plant in the US state of North Carolina. The Japanese manufacturer aims to pave the way for the production of electric vehicles in the United States. Toyota has now increased its planned investment in the plant from $1.3 billion to $3.8 billion.

Toyota It plans to manufacture up to 1.2 million batteries in the US

Factory for that Lithium ion batteries It is expected to create 2,100 new jobs in the United States. Toyota will initially manufacture batteries for its hybrid vehicles in North Carolina, and later will also manufacture batteries for electric vehicles. The plant is to be expanded to at least six production lines with a capacity of 1.2 million batteries per year.

The investment in the battery factory will be made by a new company, Toyota Battery Manufacturing. Toyota holds a 90 percent stake in the battery company, a joint venture with Toyota Tsusho, the automaker’s metals business unit.

Toyota wants to catch up quickly when it comes to electric cars

The investment in the battery factory is part of Toyota’s announcement that it will invest a total of $3.4 billion in the development and production of automotive batteries in the United States by 2030. Toyota intends to invest a total of 5.6 billion in battery development worldwide. With investments, the carmaker wants to catch up with the competition: the Japanese have pioneered hybrid cars, but have been slower than other manufacturers when it comes to converting to fully electric cars.

Car manufacturers are coming under stricter environmental regulations

The announcement of more investment came two days after the announcement Honda engineTo set up battery plant in US with South Korean partner LG Energy Solutions At the same time, news broke that California wants to ban sales of new combustion engines starting in 2035.

Automakers around the world are investing billions to ramp up production of batteries and electric vehicles due to tighter environmental regulations. In the United States, for example, President Joe Biden signed an executive order requiring half of all new vehicles sold in the United States to be zero-emissions by 2030. These include pure battery vehicles, fuel cell vehicles and plug-in hybrid vehicles.

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