Industry-wide pullback on EVs won’t affect Toyota’s NC battery plant, company says

The auto industry’s shrinking ambitions for producing electric vehicles has not affected Toyota’s plans for its new battery factory in Randolph County.

The company says it is on track to begin producing batteries at the plant early next year. It was widely reported in Japan last week that the company would cut its global battery electric goals for 2026 by 30% , to 1 million vehicles, in the face of weakening demand. The company later said there had been no change in its production goals .

Either way, the company’s first North American battery plant now under construction in North Carolina is moving ahead as scheduled, according to spokeswoman Emily Holland.

“There is no change to Toyota’s construction or production plan,” Holland wrote in an email. “We are currently in pre-production trials and will begin shipping batteries in Q1 2025.”

Meanwhile, North Carolina lawmakers redoubled their support for the plant this week, approving $150 million for road construction to improve access from U.S. 421. The money was part of a mini-budget bill that also provides more vouchers for parents to send their kids to private school and would require sheriffs to cooperate with federal immigration officials.

Toyota’s initial incentive package included $135 million from the state and another $40 million from the Golden Leaf Foundation . Much of that money was used for infrastructure at the 1,800-acre Greensboro-Randolph Megasite near the town of Liberty.

It also allowed the N.C. Department of Transportation to build a new interchange from U.S. 421 to Julian Airport Road, to provide better access to the site. The interchange opened this summer.

NCDOT will use the additional $150 million approved this week for a second U.S. 421 interchange, at Shiloh/Starmount roads, and a new overpass to carry Shiloh and Colonial Trading Path over U.S. 421.

The highway connections and other incentives helped persuade Toyota to announce in 2021 that it would build a $3.8 billion factory at the megasite and employ 1,750 people. Last year, the company announced two expansions, saying it would now invest $13.9 billion in the plant and eventually employ about 5,000 people .

Several automakers, including Ford , GM and Volkswagen, have scaled back their EV plans by delaying construction of plants and the introduction of new models. Volvo recently announced it had abandoned its plan to be all-electric by 2030 .

Consumers have shown growing interest in hybrid electric vehicles , which combine internal combustion engines and electric motors to produce power. Toyota was a pioneer in the technology with the Prius and will produce batteries in Randolph for hybrid EVs as well as fully electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles.