Honda, Toyota prepare US EV investments

Two Japan-based automakers have announced separate United States electric vehicle (EV) battery production investments with a combined total of more than $8 billion in anticipated spending.

Toyota Motor Corp. has announced an additional investment of $2.5 billion at its under construction Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMNC) facility in Liberty, North Carolina. The automaker says the investment “adds capacity to support battery EV (BEV) production” at the plant, which is scheduled to start operating in 2025.

“This marks another significant milestone for our company,” says Norm Bafunno, senior vice president at Toyota Motor North America. “This plant will serve a central role in Toyota’s leadership toward a fully electrified future and will help us meet our goal of carbon neutrality in our vehicles and global operations by 2035.”

Last year, Toyota, in partnership with Toyota Tsusho, announced the new Liberty location with an initial investment of $1.29 billion for battery production. The latest announcement brings TBMNC’s total investment to $3.8 billion. It is part of Toyota’s global plant to invest approximately $70 billion for electrification efforts.

Honda Motor Co. Ltd., meanwhile, has announced jointly with South Korea-based LG Energy Solution (LGES) an agreement to establish a joint venture (JV) company to produce lithium-ion batteries in the U.S. “to power Honda and Acura EV models for the North American market.”

LGES and Honda say they will invest a total of $4.4 billion and establish a new JV plant in the U.S. with an intended annual production capacity of approximately 40 Gigawatt hours (GWh). The firms say, “The pouch-type batteries produced at the new JV plant will be supplied exclusively to Honda facilities in North America.”

The location for the JV plant has not been finalized, although media reports indicate officials in Ohio, where Honda has a considerable manufacturing base, have been in negotiation with Honda and LG.

In late August, Reuters quoted Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine as saying his administration has been working with Honda and LG “to ensure that they choose Ohio for this new electric battery plant.”

The JV partners say that, based on Honda’s plans for EV production in North America, the two companies aim to begin construction in early 2023 in order to “enable the start of mass production of advanced lithium-ion battery cells by the end of 2025.”

“Aligned with our longstanding commitment to build products close to the customer, Honda is committed to the local procurement of EV batteries which is a critical component of EVs. This initiative in the U.S. with LGES, the leading global battery manufacturer, will be part of such a Honda approach,” says Toshihiro Mibe, president and CEO of Honda Motor Co.

“Our joint venture with Honda, which has significant brand reputation, is yet another milestone in our mid- to long-term strategy of promoting electrification in the fast-growing North American market,” says Youngsoo Kwon, CEO of LG Energy Solution.

The Carolinas and the Great Lakes regions are among the parts of the U.S. competing for EV and EV component production. The geographic decisions made will likely have an impact regarding metals and battery materials recycling opportunities in the respective regions.