Toyota accelerates electric ambitions with multi‑billion battery push
Toyota has outlined a plan to roll out 30 electric models by 2030, aiming to reach 3.5 million electric vehicles in that year. The pace marks a shift for the Japanese automaker, which has traditionally been more cautious about fully electric executions compared with some peers. Central to this strategy is a heavy investment in battery production, with batteries playing a pivotal role in Toyota’s path to electrification. The company currently relies on BYD as a primary supplier, while Panasonic, via a strategic joint venture named Prime Planet Energy and Solutions, is positioned to become a leading battery component manufacturer. Toyota confirms that the next major move in this area involves an allocation of 5.263 billion euros to build battery factories in Japan and the United States, signaling a transcontinental expansion to secure supply.
From the announced total investment, 2.883 billion euros will fund factories in Japan, including Prime Planet Energy and Solutions’ facility in Himeji. The remaining 2.352 billion euros will be dedicated to Toyota Battery Manufacturing in North Carolina, United States, to bolster battery production capacity.
The goals behind these investments include bringing battery production online and achieving a capacity of up to 1 million units combined between Japan and the United States by 2026. The plan targets a production capacity of 40GWh, a figure aligned with Toyota’s urgency to secure the critical battery supply required for electric mobility. A portion of the investment will also strengthen competitiveness and support the training of personnel specifically focused on battery assembly.
The 5.263 billion euros are part of a broader battery development and manufacturing program, with a total commitment of 15.582 billion euros planned over the next decade. Toyota has publicly stated it would increase its battery-related expenditure, building on the roughly 8 billion euros already invested over the past 26 years to advance the electrical systems that power its hybrids and electrified models. These moves demonstrate Toyota’s long-term focus on securing a robust battery ecosystem across regions.
Toyota’s first fully electric model, the bZ4X, was launched this year as an SUV available in Spain initially as a rental. The bZ series is short for Beyond Zero, representing the brand’s broader journey toward zero emissions. The company continues to pursue a target of reducing CO2 emissions by 100 percent in key markets and aims to achieve electric-scale operations in Western Europe by 2035, with facilities on the continent moving toward neutrality. Additional electric models are expected to enter the market in the following year, expanding Toyota’s footprint across major segments.