Toyota announced Tuesday that electric vehicle batteries will soon roll off the assembly line at its $14 billion factory in Randolph County.
During a quarterly earnings presentation in Tokyo, the Japanese automaker said the Liberty plant will begin shipping batteries to an assembly plant in Kentucky in April. The company will hire more than 5,000 workers to make batteries for hybrid and electric cars as part of Toyota’s approach to encouraging EV ownership in the United States.
Sean Suggs, president of Toyota North Carolina, said in 2023 that the company has set a goal of offering electric and hybrid versions of every model it sells.
“It supports our multi-pathway approach of having customers with options of hybrid plug-in, hybrid, ice or combustible engine as well as a full electric battery,” he said. “So, this follows right in line with our direction of making sure we support customer demand.”
The plant at the Greensboro-Randolph mega-site in Liberty was announced in 2021. At the time, state officials promised at least $79 million in incentives and $65 million in property tax rebates from Randolph County.
The opening comes as President Donald Trump wants to cancel the Biden administration’s investments in EV production. Trump revoked Biden’s mandate that electric cars make up 50% of U.S. vehicle sales by 2030.
Despite the executive order, consumer tax credits are still available for American-made electric vehicles and automakers are sticking to their own EV production targets.
Meanwhile, Toyota announced Tuesday that it will develop and make electric vehicles and batteries in China under a new partnership. The Chinese EV market is booming, with sales growing by more than 40% in 2024.
