Toyota will invest about $13.6 billion in battery technology over the next decade, including a $9 billion investment in manufacturing, as it seeks to electrify its vehicle lineup, the Wall Street Journal reported. It reportedly plans to have 10 battery production lines by 2025, eventually increasing to about 70 at a surprising number of plants around the world. Ultimately, it could produce up to 200GWh of batteries, the company’s chief technology officer, Masahiko Maeda, said at a press conference.
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Toyota’s commitments mirror similar investments planned by others across the auto industry. Volkswagen plans to produce about 240GWh of batteries in Europe alone by 2030, the WSJ notes, while Ford has said it plans to produce 240GWh globally by then, including 140GWh in North America.
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It's a big investment from Toyota, and it shows that the world's largest automaker wants to get serious about electric vehicles. Although the company was an early leader in hybrid gas cars with the Prius, it reportedly viewed hybrids as a stopgap measure until hydrogen fuel cells became competitive. Now, the company is playing catch-up with companies like Nissan and has reportedly been lobbying to slow the U.S. to electric vehicles.
Earlier this year, Toyota announced an electric vehicle strategy that will result in the launch of 70 electric cars worldwide by 2025, including 15 fully electric vehicles as well as hybrid and hydrogen-powered models.
Toyota hopes its investments can help reduce battery costs by 30 percent through improved materials and cell designs. On the vehicle side, it also aims to develop cars that use batteries more efficiently, resulting in 30 percent less energy consumption per kilometer.
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The company is also continuing its work on solid-state batteries, which could eventually lead to more densely packed, safer and faster charging cells, Reuters notes. Toyota hopes to start manufacturing these batteries by the middle of the decade, but admits that more research needs to be done to improve the technology’s cost and lifespan.
Source of information: theverge.com
