Toyota invests in US battery manufacturing business
The leading automotive manufacturer is one of many carmakers with a vested interest in the production of batteries for new electric vehicles. Toyota will now invest in a new arm of the business to increase the production capacity in the United States.
With a US$3.4bn investment in the industry, Toyota has plans to set up a battery production line in the US by the end of 2030, which incorporates a US1.29bn spend on a new plant that is expected to introduce 1,750 new jobs to the market. The funds for its US operations come from a wider global spend budget that was announced in September this year, amounting to US$13.5bn by 2030, and the group also announced that it had plans to cut the costs of its vehicle batteries by a minimum of 30% through careful design and development.
While Toyota is yet to disclose the production capacity of the new facility, it has said that the initial quantity will be supplied to its hybrid car manufacturer units. Ted Ogawa, Chief Executive Officer at Toyota North America, says that the investment in the emerging technology will ‘help usher in more affordable electrified vehicles for U.S. consumers’, supporting the deadline for the nationwide initiative, set by President Joe Biden, to eliminate half of the petrol-and-diesel-powered vehicles from showrooms.
Continuous development of its electrified portfolio
Up until the announcement Toyota has shown commitment to the decarbonisation of its vehicle production in many other ways:
- The company has sold over 18.7 million electric vehicles (EVs), 4.5 million in the US
- Toyota expects to increase its EV sales volume to 70% of its portfolio by 2030
- The carmaker is continuously expanding its EV portfolio, with hybrid vehicles, plug-in hybrid vehicles, fuel-cell-powered and battery electric cars
- The firm expects to sell two million zero-emission vehicles and up to 1.8 million EVs in the US by 2030
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