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Toyota Triples North Carolina Battery Plant InvestmentToyota Triples North Carolina Battery Plant Investment
Toyota ups spending on Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMNC) to $3.8 billion.
1 Min Read
Work on Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina.Image courtesy of Toyota
The recent announcement that California will phase out the sale of combustion engine vehicles by 2035 was just another reminder that the market is shifting to battery-electric vehicles faster than the industry can procure batteries.
So even though Toyota only just announced its plans for a new $1.29 billion battery plant in Liberty, North Carolina in November 2021, with a groundbreaking ceremony earlier this year, the company has just announced plans to triple that plant’s capacity in a bid to meet anticipated demand for batteries.
When it was announced, Toyota said that Toyota Battery Manufacturing, North Carolina (TBMNC) would come online in 2025 with 1,750 employees and the capacity to build enough batteries for 200,000 vehicles. They said at the time that the plant could eventually expand to as many as six production lines for a capacity of 1.2 million vehicles worth of batteries.
Now, Toyota is spending another $2.5 billion to expand that initial capacity, bringing the total investment in TBMNC to $3.8 billion. “This marks another significant milestone for our company,” said Norm Bafunno, senior vice president, Unit Manufacturing and Engineering at Toyota Motor North America. “This plant will serve a central role in Toyota’s leadership toward a fully electrified future and will help us meet our goal of carbon neutrality in our vehicles and global operations by 2035.”
About the Author
Dan’s coverage of the auto industry over three decades has taken him to the racetracks, automotive engineering centers, vehicle simulators, wind tunnels, and crash-test labs of the world.
A member of the North American Car, Truck, and Utility of the Year jury, Dan also contributes car reviews to Popular Science magazine, serves on the International Engine of the Year jury, and has judged the collegiate Formula SAE competition.
Dan is a winner of the International Motor Press Association's Ken Purdy Award for automotive writing, as well as the National Motorsports Press Association's award for magazine writing and the Washington Automotive Press Association's Golden Quill award.
Dan, testing the 2025 Aston Martin Vanquish. ANDY MORGAN/ASTON MARTIN
He has held a Sports Car Club of America racing license since 1991, is an SCCA National race winner, two-time SCCA Runoffs competitor in Formula F, and an Old Dominion Region Driver of the Year award winner. Co-drove a Ford Focus 1.0-liter EcoBoost to 16 Federation Internationale de l’Automobile-accredited world speed records over distances from just under 1km to over 4,104km at the CERAM test circuit in Mortefontaine, France.
He was also a longtime contributor to the Society of Automotive Engineers' Automotive Engineering International magazine.
He specializes in analyzing technical developments, particularly in the areas of motorsports, efficiency, and safety.
He has been published in The New York Times, NBC News, Motor Trend, Popular Mechanics, The Washington Post, Hagerty, AutoTrader.com, Maxim, RaceCar Engineering, AutoWeek, Virginia Living, and others.
Dan has authored books on the Honda S2000 and Dodge Viper sports cars and contributed automotive content to the consumer finance book, Fight For Your Money.
He is a member and past president of the Washington Automotive Press Association and is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers.
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