Following the unveiling of Toyota’s electric bZ4X concept earlier this year, Toyota is reportedly looking to build new factories around the world to supply battery components, and plans to spend as much as $9 billion USD on the projects.
Toyota plans to invest $9 billion USD in the coming decade to build electric vehicle (EV) plants, in order to fulfill targets to sell two million EVs per year by the end of the decade, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The company, which was traditionally known for bringing the emissions-friendly hybrid Prius to the forefront of the consumer’s attention, is prepared to accelerate into an electric future.
Toyota Subsidiary to Buy Lyft’s Self-Driving Car Unit for $550 Million https://t.co/mMKZHCtoik
— TeslaNorth.com (@RealTeslaNorth) April 27, 2021
While it’s unclear exactly how many battery factories Toyota plans to build, it says it’s targeting 10 production lines dedicated to EVs by 2025, eventually ramping up to as many as 70 production lines. Toyota’s Chief Production Officer Hajime Yokota also says the company will build the EV factories “around the world.”
Yokota said, “A single factory can contain several production lines. The factories will be built around the world.” Yokota continued, “We want to localize production as a general principle.”
Despite Toyota’s apparent support for EVs, a report from July showed that Toyota had actually been quietly lobbying against EVs in Washington D.C., likely because of initial hopes to launch hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as soon as 2023.
