Toyota is investing another $8 billion at its Liberty, N.C., plant, bringing the auto manufacturer’s total investment at the site, currently under construction, to $13.9 billion. The latest plan would bring the total square footage of the Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina to 7 million, equal to 121 football fields of battery production, according to Toyota.
An Oct. 31 announcement says the additional investment will add eight battery production lines for electric vehicles (BEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) at the plant. That brings the total to 10. As previously announced, the plant will also feature four battery lines for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs).
Toyota spokesperson Emily Holland says the investment will fund infrastructure, facilities, machinery and employees for the new battery production lines.
Production at the facility will be increased in a phased approach, with line launches through 2030 to reach a total annual production of more than 30GWh.
Mich.-based Aristeo Construction is the contractor for the project. With over two decades working with Toyota, Aristeo has completed dozens of large-scale projects, including the 3 million-sq-ft Mazda Toyota Manufacturing facility in Huntsville, Ala., which cost $2.3 billion.
Toyota has made more than 24.6-million HEV, BEV and PHEVs to date, and by 2025 plans to have an electrified option available for every Toyota and Lexus model.
When announced in 2021, Toyota's investment at the North Carolina facility totaled $1.29 billion for battery production and was to create 1,750 jobs. The new plant will add 3,000 jobs.
Toyota had announced a $2.5-billion investment in August 2022 and another $2.1 billion in June. The company is investing elsewhere too. It is building a $50 million laboratory to evaluate electric vehicle batteries at its North American research and development in York Township, Mich.
The automaker says it aims to invest more than $70 billion in vehicle electrification by 2030.
