Toyota plans to build a new $1.29 billion factory in the U.S. to manufacture batteries for gas-electric hybrid and fully electric vehicles.
The move comes amid a flurry of global announcements about shoring up production of batteries for electric vehicles. Most automakers are working to transition away from internal combustion engines to zero emission battery vehicles.
The Toyota plant location wasn’t announced, but the company said it eventually will employ 1,750 people and start making batteries in 2025, gradually expanding through 2031.
The new plant would likely be near one of the company’s U.S. assembly plants in Indiana, Missouri, Kentucky, Alabama or Texas. Toyota’s plant in Princeton, Indiana, makes more than 400,000 vehicles per year and employs more than 7,000.
The Indiana Economic Development Corp. declined to comment on whether it was talking with Toyota about locating the plant in Indiana.
The proposed battery plant is part of $3.4 billion that Toyota plans to spend in the U.S. on automotive batteries during the next decade. It didn’t detail where the remaining $2.1 billion would be spent, but part of that likely will go for another battery factory.
Stellantis, formerly Fiat Chrysler, and LG Energy Solution said Monday that they plan to build a battery manufacturing facility to help the automaker get 40% of its U.S. sales from vehicles that run at least partly on electricity by 2030. They didn’t say where the plant would be.
Also Monday, the Taiwanese company that makes smartphones for Apple and others, Foxconn Technology Group, said it would produce electric cars and buses for auto brands in China, North America, Europe and other markets.
Volvo Cars on Monday unveiled more details of its initial public offering that will fund its ambitious plan to transform into an all-electric vehicle company by 2030. The Swedish auto brand, owned by Chinese carmaker Geely, said the IPO would value the company at 163-200 billion kronor ($18.8-$23 billion) when shares start trading Oct. 28.
And Ford Motor Co. announced that it will turn a transmission factory in northwest England into a plant that will make electric power units for cars and trucks sold throughout Europe.
Toyota joins Ford and General Motors in announcing recent large investments in U.S. battery factories. GM plans to build battery plants in Ohio and Tennessee, while Ford has plans for plants in Tennessee and Kentucky.
Toyota will form a new company to run its new U.S. battery plant with Toyota Tsusho, a subsidiary that now makes an array of parts for the automaker. The company also will help Toyota expand its U.S. supply chain, as well as increase its knowledge of lithium-ion auto batteries, Toyota said Monday.
“Today’s commitment to electrification is about achieving long-term sustainability for the environment, American jobs and consumers,” Ted Ogawa, Toyota’s North American CEO, said in a statement.
Toyota plans to sell 2 million zero emission hydrogen and battery electric vehicles worldwide per year by 2030. In the U.S., Toyota plans to sell 1.5 million to 1.8 million vehicles by 2030 in the U.S. that are at least partially electrified.
Now in the U.S., it offers hydrogen vehicles, hybrids and plug-in hybrids that can travel a relatively short distance on electricity before switching to a gas-electric hybrid powertrain. Toyota says vehicles that operate at least partially on electricity now account for about a quarter of its U.S. sales, and it plans for that to rise to nearly 70% by 2030.
The company says it will have 15 battery electric vehicles for sale globally by 2025.
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Now we just need to figure how we’re going to generate sufficient electricity to charge these batteries.
Toyota will likely build mainly PHEVs, which are plug-in hybrids. These will be able to run fully electric (no gas) for most daily commutes. When you return home you plug in, charge overnight, then drive fully electric each day for your commute. Then, when you need further range (i.e. Florida), your PHEV will use the electric for the first part of the drive, then automatically swith to its fuel efficient hybrid system that uses both gas and electric for the remainder of the trip. You just fill up at the gas station and drive like a normal vehicle, no plug-in required. Once you return home, you can plug in at night for your daily commute in electic use again. PHEVs are more affordable than fully electic cars that have no gas engine. They also do not have the range anxiety that electric cars have. Lastly, PHEVs can have the lowest carbon footprint from production to grave, even lower than fully electric vehicles.
Switching from gasoline powered vehicles to electric vehicles will not require additional energy production. It will mean a shift from one source of fuel to another. Today most vehicles are powered by refined, petroleum-based gasoline. Electric vehicles will be powered by nuclear, natural gas (which is also petroleum-based), solar, wind, and coal-fired power plants. If new sources are required, “need is the mother of invention” and free enterprise will rise to the challenge.
As a current Chevy Volt owner I can tell you you’re wrong about the PHEV idea. That ship sailed already. The best EVs are getting amazing mileage and range anxiety is becoming less and less of a buyer fear. GM already discontinued the Volt. They released the Bolt to much acclaim and it’s failed terribly unfortunately with battery fires. The idea of a cross over stage from full gas to full electric is over. Full EV is what people want… Tesla Model S performance/range for $40k.
The momentum is starting to shift to electric now that the battery range is long enough and the free market is getting on board building the cars. Once it gets going things will change quickly. It will be fascinating to watch the shift over the next ten years. The question is no longer will it happen, but when. I certainly can’t afford a new car right now or I’d get one, but I suspect as electric becomes more prevalent gas will keep getting more expensive. It will be like when they got everyone to replace their old AC units at home, by making Freon too expensive to buy. It will also be interesting to see if their will be much of a used market for electric vehicles since replacing batteries is currently too expensive. I’d love an electric lawnmower now, but my Honda will probably last another 15 years and I don’t have the dollars to swap everything out including my car. We will need a robust economy to make this monumental shift, but it’s clearly on the way now with these kind of announcements.
That’s fantastic Toyota……now, how about building a computer chip plant?
That is currently a real problem Pat isn’t it. As long as we have only a few chip plants in a country that has issues with China it’s not a pretty picture. How does that even happen that such a critical component of all electronics is concentrated in a single country. That would be like oil and gas only being produced in one country. I hope we and the rest of the world can change that situation soon!
Mike, I came here to type that 😂