The Japanese company established a two trillion dollar budget in December for the research and development of automobile batteries, which includes a portion of the funds.
Toyota announced on Wednesday that it would increase battery output for electric vehicles in Japan and the United States by up to 730 billion yen ($5.3 billion).
The Japanese company established a two trillion dollar budget in December for the research and development of automobile batteries, which includes a portion of the funds.
As governments put more pressure on automakers to abandon cars with internal combustion engines, as well as as a result of the success of Elon Musk’s Tesla, the industry is moving more quickly toward electric vehicles.
Toyota is the most popular automaker in the world and is a leader in the development of hydrogen fuel as a future fuel.
However, adoption of battery-powered electric vehicles, which are thought to be essential for cutting carbon emissions, has been slow until lately.
With this investment, Toyota hopes to boost its total capacity for battery manufacture in Japan and the US by up to 40 GWh (Gigawatt Hours), according to a statement from the business.
Toyota stated that it plans to start manufacturing battery cells in the two nations between 2024 and 2026.
The announcement comes after Honda unveiled a joint venture on Monday with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution to invest $4.4 billion in a new US electric car battery plant.
And last month, Japanese electronics giant and Tesla supplier Panasonic announced its own $4 billion investment to build a new battery factory in the United States for electric vehicles.
