Toyota announced on its website on Tuesday that it would build a $1.29 billion electric car battery plant in North Carolina. The company calls it "Toyota Battery Manufacturing in North Carolina," (TBMNC), which will create 1750 jobs in the state.
TBMNC will have four production lines. Toyota expects each production line to provide enough lithium-ion batteries for 200000 all-electric and hybrid cars by 2025. The company also plans to expand to six production lines to provide batteries for 1.2 million cars a year.
Toyota and Toyota will jointly invest $1.29 billion in land and facilities, part of which will come from an investment of about $3.4 billion in electric vehicles announced in October, the statement said. Toyota did not disclose the location of the plant at the time. When the TBMNC is completed, Toyota will own 90 per cent of TBMNC and Toyota Tosco will hold 10 per cent.
Ted Ogawa, CEO of Toyota North America, said in a statement, "the future travel must be electrified, and the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite industrial park is an ideal place to achieve this electrification."
Ogawa added, "North Carolina provides the right conditions for this investment, including infrastructure, a high-quality education system, a diversified and skilled workforce and a pleasant business environment. Today is the beginning of mutually beneficial cooperation between Toyota and Tar foot (North Carolina), and we will embark on the road of carbon neutrality together. " Earlier, Toyota promised to achieve a carbon balance between its vehicles and operations by 2050.
