Toyota announces EV plant in the US
President Joe Biden, the self-proclaimed “Car Guy,” made developing electric vehicle infrastructure a cornerstone of his economic plan.
Now, two years after his election, Biden’s push is beginning to pay off as more automakers choose to manufacture their electric vehicles in the US, where federal and state companies have been offered favorable tax breaks and incentives.
The latest is Japan’s Toyota Motor, which has announced it will begin producing electric vehicles at its Kentucky factory by 2025. Nike Asia reported Tuesday.
As part of its economic plan, the Biden administration allocated $7.5 billion to build an extensive national EV charger network and also made investments in EV manufacturing by granting tax credits to those who made certain in America Buying EVs and boosting local chip manufacturing capacity help the EV industry.
This prompted increased interest from American consumers, who can receive up to $7,500 in tax credits for purchasing a US-assembled EV
Toyota will use batteries it makes in North Carolina to make electric vehicles at its Kentucky plant, with the end-to-end process staying in the United States. The company hopes to produce about 10,000 electric SUVs per month in the US by the end of 2025 and 200,000 electric SUVs annually starting in 2026 Nikkei.
The Kentucky plant will aim to bolster Toyota’s role in electric vehicles, where it has been a latecomer. It’s the world’s leading automaker, but it produced just 24,000 electric vehicles worldwide in 2022, compared to the 1.31 million Teslas it shipped.
Not just Toyota
Toyota is not alone in its ambition to expand its electric vehicle presence in the US. Ford was among the first companies to announce billions of dollars in investments in electric vehicle and battery manufacturing in Kentucky and Tennessee for 2021. The company projects $7 billion in tax breaks from its EV operations between 2023 and 2026.
More recently, EV pioneer Tesla is reducing its battery manufacturing in Germany to move “some production steps” to the US. Reuters reported Tuesday. The Austin-based company originally planned to manufacture whole batteries in Brandenburg, Germany, but has since decided to refocus on the US
“The company has prioritized further production steps in the USA because tax incentives make business conditions more favorable there,” said the Brandenburg Ministry of Economic Affairs in a statement Reuters.
As America strengthens its position as a hub for electric vehicle manufacturing, some of its peers elsewhere are not warming to the mission. South Korea called the US push for domestically made electric vehicles last year a “treason” that could hurt its brands like Kia and Hyundai, which don’t make such vehicles in the US
The expansion has also generated excitement in China, where there is a huge appetite for electric vehicles. Chinese automaker BYD delivered 1.86 million cars in 2022, making it one of the leading auto brands to sell electric vehicles. When Ford announced its partnership with Chinese battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology, Chinese authorities were quick to scrutinize it to ensure there was no misuse of core technologies powering the vehicles.
Toyota and Tesla did not return immediately wealth‘S Please comment outside of regular business hours.
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