Toyota to build a new battery plant in the US

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Toyota to build a new battery plant in the US

TOKYO - - Toyota Motor said Monday that it would build a factory in the U.S. to make batteries for electric cars and other vehicles, part of approximately $3.4 billion in battery-related investments to be made in the American market through the end of the decade.

Toyota Tsusho will establish a new company for the battery plant with group trading house Toyota Yamayuki.

The venture, which will be owned to 100% by Toyota, will aim at ending production in 2025.

This comes as the Biden administration is calling for a move to electric vehicles as part of its environmental agenda. Stellantis, whose auto brands include Fiat and Chrysler, has also announced massive investment in U.S. batteries production.

The first site, which is the new battery plant of Toyota in the U.S., will hire 1,750 people to replace a Toyota battery station in the USA. Toyota will announce the location and production capacity of the new facility at a later date.

The plant will first produce batteries for electric vehicles with a view to producing hybrid engines before that.

Toyota says in September that the company would invest 1.5 trillion dollars in automotive batteries by 2030. The company aims to sell 8 million electrified vehicles in 2030, including hybrids, of which a total of 2 million will be EVs and fuel-cell vehicles.

Toyota placed a clear emphasis on keeping battery procurement within its group, partly from the standpoint of quality assurance. The new company with Toyota Tsusho will be Toyota's third battery-related joint venture.

Toyota, together with Panasonic, established the company Primearth EV Energy in 1996 in Japan to supply hydrogen and hybrid batteries. In 2020, the two companies created Prime Planet Energy Solutions, which is responsible for the production and development of automotive batteries.

With the new venture, we chose a structure which allows Toyota to operate independently, a spokesperson for the automaker said.