Toyota pledged to invest up to 730 billion yen (R97 billion) to boost electric car battery production in Japan and the US as consumer demand for cleaner transport takes off globally.
Battery production is expected to begin between 2024 and 2026, the world’s biggest automaker said in a statement Wednesday.
“This investment is aimed at enabling Toyota to flexibly meet the needs of its various customers in all countries and regions by offering multiple powertrains and providing as many options as possible,” Toyota said.
Although Toyota sees hybrid and even hydrogen fuel cell cars as part of a green future, it has hastened its push to electrify more of its lineup in recent months.
In December, it promised to be ready to sell only zero-emission cars in Europe by 2035, aligning with the European Union’s green deal measures proposed earlier in 2021.
“This is a positive move,” Hiroki Ihara, an analyst at Tachibana Securities, said. “In the US, the shift to EVs is accelerating faster than anticipated and there’s also a move to eliminate hybrids.”
With the investment, Toyota plans to increase its combined battery production capacity in Japan and the US by up to 40GWh.
In Japan, around 400 billion yen (R49 billion) will be invested in Himeji Plant of Prime Planet Energy & Solutions and in Toyota plants and property, while in the US, 325 billion yen (R40 billion) will go to a plant in North Carolina.
“Toyota believes there is more than one option for achieving carbon neutrality,” the Japanese automaker said Wednesday.
“It also believes the means of reducing CO2 emissions as much as possible and as quickly as possible, while protecting the livelihoods of its customers, vary greatly depending on the country and region.”
Carmakers and cell manufacturers around the world are ramping up battery-plant plans to keep up with demand.
Panasonic, which supplies batteries to Tesla, is in talks to build another plant in the US worth around $4 billion (R69 billion) while Korean battery makers have a slew of plans for facilities in the US, constructing four for General Motors, two for Stellantis and three for Ford.
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