The Japanese carmaker wants to invest in the battery business in the US and Japan.
(Photo: Reuters)
Tokyo The largest Japanese carmaker Toyota wants to invest up to 730 billion yen (5.3 billion euros) in battery production in Japan and the USA. Production is scheduled to begin between 2024 and 2026, increasing production capacity in the two countries by up to 40 gigawatt hours, the company announced on Wednesday.
With its own plants, the group wants to accelerate its race to catch up with electric cars. While other manufacturers are already betting on electromobility, Toyota has long bet on hybrid cars that combine electric and gasoline engines. The Group is the world market leader for hybrid vehicles. But last year CEO Akio Toyoda turned things around.
Within a few months, the CEO increased Toyota’s sales forecast for electric cars for 2030 from 1.5 million to 3.5 million units – which corresponds to about 30 to 40 percent of group sales. In addition, Toyoda increased investments in battery factories by a third to 15 billion euros. The current initiative is part of that plan.
Toyota is not alone in its push. Local rival Honda announced on Monday that it would invest 4.4 billion US dollars in a battery plant in the USA together with the South Korean battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution. That would be Honda’s first own battery factory.
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Although Toyota is open to partnerships, it relies more than its rival on its own strength and expertise. Around 400 billion yen (around 2.9 billion euros) are to flow primarily into the battery joint venture with Panasonic.
New battery plant in North Carolina
The carmaker is investing the remaining 325 billion yen (2.3 billion euros) in Toyota Battery Manufacturing in the US state of North Carolina. Toyota Motor North America owns 90 percent of the shares and Toyota Tsusho the remaining ten percent. The group, which is also listed on the stock exchange, is the trading house of the Toyota Group, which, among many other businesses, takes over Toyota’s sales in Africa and the securing of raw materials such as lithium for battery production.
In the important Chinese market, where Toyota first presented its new electric car series “bZ”, the car manufacturer also relies on the Chinese car and battery manufacturer Build Your Dreams (BYD) as a partner.
BYD has developed lithium iron phosphate batteries that are not only smaller than lithium ion batteries, but also do not require expensive metals such as cobalt. Tesla also uses these batteries for its China-made Model 3 and Model Y.
However, neither the BYD nor the existing lithium-ion batteries are Toyota’s last alternative. Like other car manufacturers, the company is working hard to develop so-called solid-state batteries, which are considered to be the next battery technology. With them, the liquid electrolyte is replaced by solid ones.
This enables shorter charging times and higher energy density. The company presented the first prototype at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo last year. However, it is still unknown when mass production will begin.
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