TOKYO — Toyota Motor announced on Wednesday that it will invest up to 730 billion yen ($5.3 billion) to expand production of batteries for electric vehicles in Japan and the U.S. in a move to meet increasing EV demand.
The auto giant will invest 400 billion yen domestically in the plant of Prime Planet Energy & Solutions, a joint venture with Panasonic Holdings, as well as Toyota’s own plants in Japan. It will also spend 325 billion yen on a battery factory to be built in the state of North Carolina.