NAGOYA: Toyota Motor Corp. is planning to build a plant in Fukuoka Prefecture, southwestern Japan, to produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles, informed sources said Friday.

The batteries will be supplied to Lexus luxury models manufactured at a plant in the same prefecture, as part of efforts to build supply chains for EV production in Japan.

The leading Japanese automaker plans to make EV-related investments totaling 5 trillion yen by 2030. It has set goals of increasing its global EV sales to 3.5 million units in 2030 and making Lexus an all-EV brand by 2035.

Toyota currently has battery production bases in Aichi, Shizuoka and Hyogo prefectures, while rushing to develop battery supply chains in the United States.

In Fukuoka, Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc. assembles Lexus cars at its Miyata plant in the city of Miyawaka, mostly for export. The new battery plant will be built in an industrial park in the town of Kanda and will supply batteries to the Miyata plant.

Investment in the new plant could reach hundreds of billions of yen. Toyota plans to receive subsidies from the industry ministry.

JIJI Press