Toyota Motor Corp. announced on Wednesday its plans to commence the production of electric vehicles (EVs) at its factory in Kentucky, USA, starting in 2025. As part of this initiative, the company will invest an additional $2.1 billion in battery production. The Kentucky plant will serve as Toyota's first EV production facility in the United States, the world's largest economy, and will focus on manufacturing three-row electric sport utility vehicles. In conjunction with this development, Toyota will bolster production capacity at a new battery factory currently under construction in North Carolina. The North Carolina facility is slated to begin producing batteries for both hybrid cars and EVs from 2025. With the latest investment, Toyota's total funding for the North Carolina factory will amount to $5.9 billion.   This announcement aligns with the increased emphasis by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden on global automakers to manufacture all-electric veh...

Toyota Motor Corp. and Subaru Corp. are teaming up to accelerate the development of electric vehicles (EVs), with plans to introduce an all-electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) in Japan as early as 2025. According to sources familiar with the matter, the companies are also considering a collaborative effort for an EV targeted at the North American and other markets. Toyota, under the leadership of new President Koji Sato, is striving to strengthen its presence in the EV market. In order to catch up with competitors in the United States and Europe, the Japanese auto giant has decided to leverage Subaru's expertise in development and production. Toyota currently holds a stake of around 20 percent in Subaru.   The forthcoming electric SUV for the Japanese market will be based on two EV models that Toyota and Subaru have previously developed together—the bZ4X from Toyota and the Solterra from Subaru. The new vehicle is expected to have a longer range than the bZ4X, which can trav...