Toyota is to invest up to 730 billion yen (c. £4.5bn / €5.3bn) to produce batteries to meet growing demand for electric vehicles.

Despite the recent launch of the bZ4X – the inaugural model in the carmaker’s new bZ sub-brand – Toyota is not betting solely on BEVs

The investment will be used to start battery production in Japan and North Carolina in the United States between 2024 and 2026. This will boost its existing inhouse production capacity by up to 40GWh.

The brand also said the use of its Toyota Production System and more efficient production lines will strengthen its competitiveness for battery production, compared to using external manufacturers.

It added: “Toyota intends to continue its efforts to build a supply system that can steadily meet the growing demand for BEVs in different world regions, including the supply of automotive batteries from its partners.”

However, the carmaker reiterated again that it’s keeping its options open on the powertrains of the future. While Toyota Motor Corporation announced this year that it will launch 30 battery electric models by 2030,  supporting plans for Lexus to go 100% electric by 2035 – and that it would boost its battery investment – it’s not betting purely on battery electric vehicles and has long championed hydrogen fuel cell EVs.

Toyota remains somewhat reticent on the future of BEVs in its announcement of the battery investment, which it said was aimed at giving “flexibility to meet the needs of different customers in all countries and regions by offering multiple powertrains and providing as many options as possible”.

The brand also said that: “Toyota believes there is more than one option for achieving carbon neutrality. It also believes that the means of reducing CO2 emissions as much and as quickly as possible, while protecting the livelihoods of its customers, vary greatly across different countries and regions. With this in mind, Toyota will continue to make every effort to apply flexibility in meeting different customer needs worldwide.”