According to Nikkei, Toyota Motor plans to start assembling electric vehicle batteries at three additional car factories in Japan and the United States. The goal is to shift more of the production process in-house to reduce the costs of transporting heavy finished battery packs.
Specifically, Toyota's Takaoka factory near Nagoya will begin assembling batteries at some point between spring and fall of 2025. The Miyata factory in western Japan will start battery assembly in the winter of the following year, and the factory in Kentucky, USA, is set to begin battery assembly in the spring of 2026.
These three factories will handle the final step of battery production, assembling battery modules into battery packs, which will then be installed in electric vehicles. Once the final assembly of batteries begins, these three factories will also commence electric vehicle production. Currently, Toyota conducts these production processes only at its Motomachi factory in Japan, which produces the company's first mainstream electric vehicle, the bZ4X.
Additionally, the automaker is considering expanding the final assembly of batteries to more factories, but the investment amount and expected output are yet to be determined.
Compared to purchasing batteries from suppliers and transporting them to the factory, on-site assembly of batteries at the factories that need them is cheaper, more efficient, and allows car assembly plants to have specialized staff to improve the positioning and wiring of battery packs for different vehicle models.
Toyota has previously assembled batteries for hybrid and plug-in hybrid models at its factories. However, the batteries for pure electric vehicles are much larger, requiring more space, and the company primarily procures them from group subsidiaries and other suppliers. As part of its electric vehicle production plan, Toyota is working to increase the space utilization of its factory facilities to address this issue.
Toyota aims to increase its electric vehicle production to around 250,000 units, including the Lexus brand, by 2024 and further increase it to around 600,000 units by 2025. The company also plans to start producing electric vehicle batteries at some component factories and build a new factory in North Carolina, USA.
