The company is bolstering its facilities in the USA.
Toyota was initially late to the battery electric vehicle game with it maintaining a strong stance on hybrid electric products such as the Prius. Although it has launched a strategy that will see the production of 16 BEVs over the next few years, it still maintains its stance on hybridization. This can be seen in its recent decision to commit $90 million in developments to two of its plants in the USA.
Toyota’s decision to invest such heavy funds in its American facilities is backed by the fact that demand for electrified models is well on the rise. These funds will be used on the West Virginia and Tennessee facilities so that they can accommodate hybrid transaxle production and increase engine capacity. This follows the announcement of a hefty sum of money that is being allocated to the production of batteries in North Carolina.
$73 million will be allocated to the Toyota West Virginia plant which follows a $240 million commitment that the brand confirmed last November and is set to increase production of the hybrid transaxle to 600,000 units per year. Together with this, the plant will have the expectancy to put together around 120,000 rear motor stators on an annual basis.
The rear motor stator is a crucial part of Toyota products as it is used to create an alternating current that generates rotation of the motor. As of right now, 2,000 employees manufacture one million engines and transmissions annually for all Toyota and Lexus products sold in North America. So far, the company has invested more than $2 billion in this plant.
Tennessee will receive the remaining $17 million which will be put towards the construction of hybrid transaxle cases and housings. Output is planned to increase to 1.3 million units from the existing one million that are being produced by 400 workers. The same team is responsible for the annual assembly of 1.8 million engine block units for both Toyota and Lexus products. These funds add to the existing investment of $389 million.
Wes Woods, president of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Tennessee says, “Toyota Tennessee is proud to play an important role in our company's mission to provide customers with safer, reliable, electrified vehicles that advance a carbon-neutral future. Our highly skilled team is excited to expand production of the hybrid transaxle cases and housings.”
Keyword: Toyota Allocating Big Money For American EV Production