Toyota announces multibillion-dollar investment in battery manufacturing

The world’s biggest carmaker is spending billions to ensure it can supply the batteries it needs in the future.

Toyota has announced it will invest ¥730 billion ($AU7.7 billion) towards electric vehicle battery manufacturing in the US and Japan.

Breaking ground in 2024, Toyota says it seeks to increase battery production to 40GWh (gigawatt-hours) in both countries, ensuring crucial supply as the company continues the roll out of its electric-only models in global markets.

That’s equivalent to about 560,000 batteries for Toyota’s first mass-produced global electric car, the BZ4X medium SUV.

“Toyota intends to continue its efforts to build a supply system that can steadily meet the growing demand for BEVs in various regions, including the supply of automotive batteries from its partners,” the company said in a statement.

This week, images of the Japanese car giant’s second dedicated electric vehicle – the BZ3 sedan – emerged online, expected to follow the release of the BZ4X SUV, which is now on sale overseas.

Despite being unveiled in October 2021, the BZ4X isn’t expected to arrive in Australia until 2023, with a company spokesperson blaming “current levels of unprecedented global demand for vehicles” for the delay.

Alongside its electric-vehicle push, Toyota is actively pursuing other means of zero-emissions propulsion, saying it “believes that there is more than one option for achieving carbon neutrality”.

The Japanese car giant has been showing off its hydrogen-powered internal-combustion race cars in recent times – with Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda driving a hydrogen-fuelled GR Yaris at a rally in Belgium in late August.

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