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Toyota will invest around $ 13.6 billion in battery technology over the next decade, including a $ 9 billion investment in production, as it tries to electrify its vehicle lineup, The Wall Street Journal reports. It plans to have 10 battery production lines by 2025, eventually reaching around 70 in an unexpected number of factories around the world. Ultimately, it could produce up to 200 GWh of batteries, the company’s chief technology officer, Masahiko Maeda, said during a press briefing.
Toyota’s commitments reflect similar investments planned by others in the auto industry. Volkwagen plans to produce around 240 GWh of batteries in Europe alone by 2030, the WSJ note, while Ford has announced plans to produce 240 GWh worldwide by then, including 140 GWh in North America.
This is a big investment by Toyota, and it indicates that the world’s largest automaker by volume is taking the electrification of its lineup more seriously. Although the company was an early leader in gasoline-electric hybrid cars with the Prius, it reportedly saw hybrids as a stopgap until hydrogen fuel cells became competitive. Today, the company is catching up with Nissan and has reportedly been pushing to slow the U.S. transition to electric vehicles.
Earlier this year, Toyota announced an electric vehicle strategy that will see it launch 70 electric cars globally by 2025, including 15 fully electric vehicles as well as hybrid and hydrogen models. As part of his strategy, he announced the BZ4X concept electric SUV, which he hopes to release in China and Japan from the end of the year. By 2030, the company wants around 80% of its cars to be equipped with a battery, the WSJ Remarks.
Toyota hopes its investments can help reduce the cost of batteries by 30% through improved materials and cell design. On the vehicle side, it also aims to develop cars that use batteries more efficiently, resulting in 30% lower energy consumption per kilometer. “Through this integrated vehicle and battery development, we aim to reduce the battery cost per vehicle by 50% compared to the Toyota BZ4X in the second half of the 2020s,” said Maeda.
The company is also continuing its work on solid-state batteries, which could eventually lead to denser, safer and faster charge cells, Reuters Remarks. 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 cost and lifespan of the technology.
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