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Oct 15, 2023

Toyota NC battery plant gains assist from research facility

The water tower will serve the electric vehicle battery plant that Toyota is

The water tower will serve the electric vehicle battery plant that Toyota is building at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite.

Toyota Motor North America Inc.'s product electrification manufacturing initiative now includes a $50 million electric battery laboratory facility that will benefit its planned $5.9 billion production plant in Liberty.

Toyota unveiled plans Thursday for a North American research and development headquarters in York Township, Mich. Operations are expected to begin in 2025.

Contractors have finished installing a new water tower at the Toyota electric vehicle battery manufacturing site in Liberty.

"As part of its evaluation process, the new Michigan battery laboratory will ensure that Toyota's batteries meet North American customer requirements by confirming performance, quality and durability," the manufacturer said.

Over the last two years, Toyota has invested more than $8 billion in its U.S. manufacturing operations, primarily to support its product electrification efforts.

"This new investment in our North American R&D operation, which has been a key pillar of the Michigan automotive industry for more than 50 years, shows Toyota's directional shift toward electrification for all," said Shinichi Yasui, executive vice president of research and development for Toyota Motor North America.

"By adding these critical evaluation capabilities around automotive batteries, our team is positioned to better serve the needs of our customers, including Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, the latter of which will soon be assembling the recently announced all-new, three-row, battery electric SUV."

A key element of the battery research and development facility's missions is finding ways to incorporate locally produced battery parts and materials.

That goal is to "support Toyota's multi-pathway approach to reducing carbon emissions through its portfolio of hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell and battery electric product offerings."

Other laboratory activities at the York Township facility are expected to include evaluations using Level 2 and Level 3 charging, as well as connectivity to power sources and infrastructure.

Lab engineers also will explore new battery configurations for future products. Their research may also contribute to Toyota's development of new electrified vehicle architectures. Toyota will explore further expansion of the lab's capabilities and opportunities for supporting the needs of the battery and BEV ecosystem.

The company currently offers 22 electrified vehicle options in the U.S. across the Toyota and Lexus brands, the most among any automaker. By 2025, the company plans to have an electrified option available for every Toyota and Lexus model globally.

At $5.9 billion in capital investment, the planned manufacturing plant in Liberty represents the largest single economic-development project commitment in North Carolina history even though the first battery won't be available until 2025.

Toyota has pledged to have at least 2,100 jobs at full production.

Toyota has been made eligible for up to $271.4 million in state incentives, while the Randolph County government is providing $167.3 million in local incentives.

Production is expected to begin in 2025 at what will be 2 million square feet of space spread over three buildings. Two 500,000-square-foot buildings are dedicated to hybrid electric vehicle battery production, while a 1-million-square-foot building will be focused on electric vehicle battery production.

There will be initially six battery production lines — four for hybrid electric vehicles and two for battery electric vehicles.

The $2.1 billion expansion will feature two additional production buildings of an undetermined square footage size.

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The water tower will serve the electric vehicle battery plant that Toyota is building at the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite.