Toyota Investing $5.6 Billion into EV Battery Production in Japan and the U.S.

Most automakers are pointing their sails toward an electric future, including Toyota, which just announced a major investment into electric vehicle (EV) battery production.

Toyota is set to invest as much as 730 billion yen (~$5.6 billion USD) on EV battery production in the U.S. and Japan, as detailed in a press release on Wednesday.

The investment seeks to help Toyota begin battery production sometime between 2024 and 2026, in order to help the automaker reach customer needs by providing powertrains across multiple markets.

Toyota expects the investment to increase combined battery production in Japan and the U.S. by 40 GWh.

Around 400 billion yen (~$2.9 billion USD) will be dedicated to the Himeji Plant of Prime Planet Energy & Solutions Co. Ltd. (PPES) in Japan, as well as other Toyota plants and property in the country. In the U.S., Toyota will invest around 325 billion yen (~$2.5 billion USD) into the new Toyota Battery Manufacturing plant in North Carolina.

The recently updated U.S. EV tax credit is set to benefit Toyota and other automakers, coming just months after the Japanese automaker surpassed 200,000 vehicles sold using the credit to become ineligible for old regulations.

Toyota recently began offering to buy back the bZ4X EV from customers, after a recall due to the wheels potentially falling off.