Toyota ready to begin production in $14B battery plant in US
The battery facility in North Carolina, Toyota's 11th manufacturing plant in the US, will produce batteries for hybrid EVs, plug-in hybrid EVs and battery electric vehicles.
Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMNC), Toyota's first in-house battery manufacturing plant outside Japan, is ready to begin production and will start shipping batteries for North American electrified vehicles in April.
The nearly USD 14 billion battery facility, Toyota's 11th manufacturing plant in the United States, will produce batteries for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and battery electric vehicles (BEVs) supported by 5,000 jobs, according to a media release.
The new battery plant is part of Toyota's "best-in-town" approach―investing and producing locally, contributing to the local community and offering products tailored to local needs through a multi-pathway strategy.
Toyota announced it would manufacture hybrid and electric vehicle batteries at a facility in the small Randolph town of Liberty a little over three years ago. The company scaled up this project in October 2023, announcing an investment of USD 13.9 billion and creating 5,000 jobs by 2030.
By 2030, Toyota plans to operate 14 lithium-ion battery production lines across seven buildings at the TBMNC.
The Toyota plant is the single largest commitment to EVs by a foreign automaker in US history. Toyota and its Lexus brand hold around 60% market share for hybrids in the US. But the company has been slower to adopt EVs.
To date, Toyota's total US investment stands at USD 49 billion, which supports more than 280,000 jobs in the industry. As a member of America's business community, Toyota will continue to contribute to the region through job creation and investment, the company said.
