Society | Oct 19

Toyota to build first battery plant in US

Toyota Motor says it will build its first battery plant in the United States to meet growing demand for hybrid and electric vehicles around the world.

The Japanese auto giant said on Monday it will form a new US company together with group firm Toyota Tsusho.

There was no announcement on the plant's location, or on its production capacity. The planned investment is about 1.3 billion dollars.

Toyota aims to start production in 2025. The initial focus will be on lithium-ion batteries for hybrids.

Toyota announced last month it would invest over 13 billion dollars to develop and produce batteries. Some of the money will go to setting up new production lines at factories in Japan and elsewhere.

Rival automakers are also making big investments in the field. Germany's Volkswagen and General Motors of the US have both announced plans to build battery factories for EVs.

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