© Reuters FILE PHOTO: Toyota Motor Corporation’s bZ Compact SUV is pictured after a briefing on the company’s strategies for battery EVs in Tokyo, Japan, December 14, 2021. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-hoon
(Reuters) – Toyota Motor Corp will invest up to ¥730 billion ($5.27 billion) in Japan and the United States to supply automotive batteries for battery electric vehicles, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.
The company plans to start battery production between 2024 and 2026.
Panasonic (OTC:) Holdings Corp. will invest about 400 billion yen in a plant in the western Japanese city of Himeji, Toyota Factories and Prime Planet Energy & Solutions Co.
In addition, approximately $2.5 billion will be invested in Toyota’s battery manufacturing facility in North Carolina.
Automakers around the world are spending billions of dollars to ramp up production of battery and electric vehicles in the face of tougher environmental regulations.
($1=138.4300 yen)