Toyota says battery plant in North Carolina will pave way for US-made electric vehicles
A Toyota battery plant in North Carolina will produce batteries starting in 2025 for U.S.-built hybrid and electric vehicles, the company confirmed Monday.
Called Greensboro-Randolph Megasite, the $1.29 billion plant in Randolph County, North Carolina, will provide 1,750 jobs and be built on the site commitment to US-made batteries which Toyota did in October. According to Toyota, the battery plant will produce enough batteries for 1.2 million “electric vehicles” per year. According to Christopher Reynolds, chief executive officer of Toyota Motor North America, by developing and localizing battery production, the plant will “pave the way for battery-powered electric vehicles to be manufactured here in the United States.
To make that point clear, Toyota confirmed Green car report that initial factory output is tied to U.S.-made hybrid vehicles, with the potential to shift toward electric vehicles by the end of the decade — including U.S.-made vehicles. Toyota hasn’t said exactly what chemicals or formats will be produced at the plant first.
Toyota RAV4 Prime SE life 2021
Globally, the company’s hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles accounted for more than 20% of Toyota and Lexus’ new vehicle sales in 2020. Cumulatively over time, these brands have sold 19.1 million “alternative powertrain vehicles” globally, including 4.8 million in North America. .
The North Carolina facility marks Toyota’s first in that it is fully controlled by the company versus part of a joint venture with a battery company. Technically, Toyota and Toyota Tsusho will have a 90% and 10% stake, respectively, in the new entity called Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina. It is funded in part by a $3.4 billion investment Toyota announced in October, which will be directed to electric vehicles and the surrounding supply chain. The plant investment is a fraction of the $13.5 billion Toyota plans to spend globally to usher in a new era of electrification.
Toyota says it chose North Carolina for the plant because it has a strong rail and highway system, four international airports and two seaports, a diverse workforce, and a “world-renowned” education system. “. It also notes that it also collaborates on solar and wind power for the plant. Reynolds, Toyota’s administrative director of corporate resources, said the brand will “leave no stones to have a positive impact on the environment and society”.
“This is just the first chapter of our story in North Carolina — and it’s a very long book,” Reynolds said, perhaps hinting that the company might also focus on electric vehicle manufacturing. by the end of this decade.
2023 Toyota BZ4X
2023 Toyota BZ4X
2023 Toyota BZ4X
Toyota has revealed the first electric car for the US market that is intended for mass production, bZ4X, last month. And in August, it confirmed the execution plan hydrogen fuel cell module in Kentucky, starting in 2023.
The company recently told Green car report that the heart of its EV strategy would be the affordability, not the maximum range. In May, it said it had plans for battery- and fuel-cell vehicles to combine to create 15% of US sales by 2030, while hybrid and Main plug-in hybrids will account for about 55%. That leaves about 30% without any form of electrification. The automaker sold about 2.11 million vehicles in the US in 2020.
