Toyota, Nissan join $7 billion push to boost Japan’s battery production
Toyota and Nissan are likely to invest 250 billion yen and 150 billion yen, respectively, while Panasonic is investing another 550 billion yen.
Automakers Toyota and Nissan, together with other Japanese companies, will help increase the country’s production capacity for storage batteries by 50% with government support through a total investment of 1 trillion yen (about USD 7 billion) in a bid to boost the domestic EV battery supply chain, according to Reuters, quoting a report by the Nikkei.
The focus of the investments will reportedly be automotive batteries and enhancing capacity from 80 gigawatt-hours (GWh) to 120 GWh.
Toyota and Nissan are likely to invest approximately 250 billion yen and 150 billion yen, respectively, while electronics products maker Panasonic is investing another 550 billion yen.
Japan’s government has an aim of reaching 150 GWh capacity by 2030 and will soon announce around 350 billion yen to boost that effort, the report said.
Japan’s belated push towards ramping up EV battery output comes amid a realization that Asian giants South Korea and China are far ahead in this space.
The Japanese government seeks to establish a domestic supply chain for EV batteries, but so far the country has been slow to shift to all-electric, with sales of domestic EVs dropping 39% in the first half of the year.
A member of the Japan Automobile Importers Association recently told Argus that foreign automakers like China’s BYD offered a “wider variety of models than domestic manufacturers.”
