Toyota Plans $1.29 Billion Electric Vehicle Battery Factory In North Carolina

Toyota will open a multi-billion dollar battery plant with at least 1,750 employees about an hour's drive outside the Triangle, after North Carolina approved an incentive package Monday worth $438.7 million for the company -- one of the largest manufacturing investments in the state's history. From the News & Observer: The Japanese auto maker announced in October it would build a $1.29 billion facility in the United States to manufacture hybrid and electric vehicle batteries -- a key component of the company's plans to make 70% of its cars electric by the end of the decade. The plant known as Toyota Battery Manufacturing, North Carolina will be built in Liberty, a small town in Randolph County that is home to the Greensboro-Randolph Megasite, one of the designated areas in North Carolina the state markets to potential large manufacturers.

Toyota will launch production in 2025 and expand operations by 2031. The site will produce 1.2 million battery packs per year, said Chris Reynolds, chief administrative officer of corporate resources for Toyota North America. The state's Economic Investment Committee approved the state's incentive for Toyota -- referred to internally as Project Darwin -- at a special meeting in Raleigh on Monday. The state's contribution is just one part of an incentive package from numerous entities that could reach $271.4 million. Reynolds did not have a timeline for when construction of the plant would begin but that it would be operational in 2025. Toyota eventually will create 1,750 jobs into 2029, with the jobs paying a minimum average wage of $62,234, according to the state's Commerce Department.

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