Vehicle OEM Toyota Motor Corp is delaying construction of its lithium-ion battery plant in Japan, according to reports from the country’s news outlets.
The delay in building the plant is due to lower-than-expected global demand for Electric Vehicles (EVs), and higher materials and labour cost, reported Japan’s The Ashai Simbun news outlet.
Plans for the plant were first reported last July. Toyota Battery Co. – a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corp. – was planning to start battery production at the plant in 2028.
The plant is due to manufacture battery packs with a 1,000 kilometre range and cut production costs by 20% for Toyota’s next-generation EVs.
Last month, Toyota bought a 280,000m2 plot on an industrial park in the Fukuoka Prefecture to build the plant. The park is close to Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc.’s Lexus vehicle plant.
Toyota Motor Corp.’s president Koji Sato is expected to visit Fukuoka to inform prefectural government officials of the decision, a company source told The Asahia Simbun on 23 March.
Toyota Battery Co. is the new name of Primearth EV Energy, which became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Toyota Motor last last year. Primearth was the battery joint venture founded in 1996 between the automaker and Panasonic.
Toyota has not confirmed the delay in construction work at the time of publication.
