Dive brief:
- Automaker giant Toyota plans to invest an additional $8 billion in its electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant in Liberty, North Carolina, the company announced Tuesday.
- The latest investment will create around 3,000 more jobs and increase capacity to support Toyota’s EV models by adding eight more production lines.
- The battery production lines will be launched in phases until 2030 and will reach a total of 30 gigawatt hours per year, the company said in the statement. Production is expected to begin in 2025.
Diving knowledge:
The latest contribution represents a total investment of $13.9 billion and more than 5,000 jobs, the automaker said in the statement.
“Today’s announcement reinforces Toyota’s commitment to electrification and carbon reduction, bringing jobs and future economic growth to the region,” Sean Suggs, president of Toyota North Carolina, said in a statement .
Toyota first announced it was building an electric vehicle battery plant in North Carolina on December 6, 2021, with an investment starting at roughly $1.3 billion.
Since then, Toyota has gradually increased its investment:
Investments in electric vehicle batteries are part of Toyota’s goal to be carbon neutral by 2050. The company also aims to make all of its manufacturing facilities carbon neutral by 2035, as well as reduce its greenhouse gas emissions from operations by a minimum of 68. %.
