The $14 billion facility in North Carolina will produce batteries for electric vehicles, hybrids, and plug-in hybrids
Toyota’s $14 billion battery manufacturing plant in North Carolina is set to begin production. This marks the Japanese automaker’s first in-house battery facility outside Japan. The plant will begin shipping batteries for Toyota and Lexus electrified vehicles in North America by April.
The facility has 14 assembly lines, with 10 focused on modules for electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrids (PHEVs), and four dedicated to hybrids (HEVs). By 2030, Toyota aims for an output of 30 gigawatt-hours annually, enough to power over 400,000 all-electric cars with 70 kWh batteries.
This represents a big leap from Toyota’s current EV performance. Last year, the company sold just under 140,000 EVs globally, with only 18,570 of those in the U.S. Currently, Toyota offers just one all-electric model in its U.S. lineup, the BZ4X crossover, though it plans to release five to seven new EVs in the next two years.
To support this, Toyota has invested nearly $10 billion in the North Carolina facility and the expansion of its plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, where a new three-row electric SUV is expected to start production this year, though its debut has reportedly been delayed to 2026.
Despite having only one EV in its U.S. portfolio, the BZ4X has shown promising growth, with sales doubling in 2024 compared to 2023. Although Toyota has been slow to enter the EV market, the company may see success with its new EV lineup, especially as U.S. EV sales hit record highs and are expected to continue growing.
