Toyota Motor Company postponed the start of production of the first American-made electric car until 2026
But it said it plans to sell up to seven types of electric cars in the United States over the next two years.
Initially, the Japanese automaker targeted, late next year, to begin production of a three-row battery-powered SUV at an assembly plant in Georgetown, Kentucky, but a company spokesman said, on Wednesday, that the goal was lowered by a few months to be in the year. the next.
He said that Toyota remains committed to manufacturing the SUV, whose name has not yet been decided, in Kentucky starting in early 2026, and another unspecified fully electric SUV at a factory in Princeton, Indiana, starting later in the year. Same year.
Electric cars
The planned expansion of Toyota’s range of electric vehicles in the United States from two vehicles currently to up to seven vehicle types comes at a time when demand for battery-powered vehicles is slowing.
The U.S. rollout is part of a broader goal to sell 1.5 million electric vehicles globally by 2026. To help achieve that goal, Toyota is building a lithium-ion battery factory in North Carolina, which is expected to become operational in 2025. .
In February, Toyota said it would spend $1.3 billion to equip its Kentucky plant to produce electric vehicles, then followed that up in April by announcing a $1.4 billion investment in an Indiana facility to produce another electric vehicle.
The Japanese newspaper “Nikkei” reported on the delay in the production of electric cars at the Kentucky factory, earlier on Wednesday, adding that “Toyota” also canceled plans to produce a Lexus SUV in North America by 2030.
The company currently sells two all-electric models in the United States – the five-seat Toyota bZ4X and the Lexus RZ 450e – both of which are manufactured in Japan.
Advanced battery production
Earlier this month, the administration of US President Joe Biden allocated $3 billion to support American companies working in the field of advanced battery manufacturing, in an attempt to limit Chinese control over this field.
According to the slashdot website, 25 companies will benefit from the funding to enhance local production of advanced batteries and components.
The US Department of Energy said on Friday that the funding, part of a broader White House goal to create an American battery supply chain, will go to projects that build, expand, or modernize facilities to process critical minerals, build components and batteries, and recycle materials.
Batteries for electric vehicles, as well as renewable energy storage for use on the electric grid, are essential to reaching the administration’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050, and boosting electric vehicles to half of all new light-duty vehicle sales by 2030.
The Biden administration had allocated a previous round of funding worth $1.8 billion to 14 projects, under the infrastructure law approved in 2021.
Toyota Motor Company postponed the start of production of the first American-made electric car until 2026
