American tax incentives introduced by the Biden administration in the United States continue to attract builders. Following Ford, Toyota has just announced an investment of the equivalent of two billion euros for a gigafactory located in North Carolina.

At the same time, the Japanese manufacturer reported the appearance of a new 100% electric SUV with seven seatsSUV that will be produced in the United States at the Kentucky plant starting in 2025.

Global strategy, local production

Toyota did not provide any other information about its future SUV. However, the brand said its commitment to an electrified future involves producing electric models locally and selling them in various markets.

The facility in Georgetown, Kentucky will play a key role. It is actually the world’s largest Toyota plant, with an annual capacity of 550,000 cars. The plant currently produces the Camry, Camry Hybrid, RAV4 Hybrid and Lexus ES, as well as several four- and six-cylinder internal combustion engines.

Toyota also announced that the first electric vehicle produced in the United States, the famous seven-seat SUV, will also run on locally produced batteries. These batteries will be developed at the gigafactory in North Carolina. The plant, which will produce batteries for hybrid and 100% electric cars, is currently under construction and will be operational in 2025.

A large number of investments

Toyota originally said it wanted to finance the project to the tune of 3.56 billion euros (1.21 for batteries designed for hybrid vehicles and 2.35 for electric cars). Today, the brand says it wants to invest an additional €1.97 billion, again in electric vehicles. With this announcement, Toyota is allocating more than 5.5 billion euros to the project, which will have up to six production lines.

The plant will produce not only battery packs, but also elements for lithium-ion batteries. We don’t yet have details on the battery or cell chemistry.

Toyota currently offers only one all-electric model, the Toyota bZ4X (two if you count the Lexus RZ 450e separately). It is imported from Japan, so it cannot take advantage of the €7,500 tax credit provided by a US law aimed at encouraging local production of electric vehicles. In the future, through the local production of electric models and the supply of batteries, Toyota should be able to take full advantage of these aids.