Toyota delays electric vehicle battery plant due to weak demand
Toyota Motor Corp. will postpone construction of a factory for lithium-ion batteries in Fukuoka Prefecture due to sluggish demand for electric vehicles in the global market.
Koji Sato, the automaker’s president, is expected to visit Fukuoka soon to inform prefectural government officials of the decision, a company source said March 23.
In addition to lower-than-expected demand for EVs, higher construction budgets due to surging costs for materials and labor were behind the decision, the source said.
Toyota Battery Co., a wholly owned subsidiary, had planned to begin construction of the factory as early as this year.
It was expected to begin producing batteries in 2028 that would double the range of EVs to 1,000 kilometers and reduce production costs by 20 percent for Toyota’s next-generation EVs.
Toyota is also considering pushing back the 2026 release date of its first next-generation EV model, a sedan from the luxury Lexus brand, because it needs more time to ensure the quality of new technologies involved.
The battery factory will be built in an industrial park developed by the prefectural government in Kanda, Fukuoka Prefecture, close to Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc.’s Lexus vehicle plant.
Toyota, which acquired an approximately 280,000-square-meter plot in February, will receive a central government subsidy based on the economic security promotion law.
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Toyota delays electric vehicle battery plant due to weak demand, source
