Toyota has said it will introduce high-performance, solid-state batteries and other technologies to improve the range and performance and to cut costs of its electric vehicles.
The Japanese carmaker said it aims to launch next-generation batteries from 2026, seeking to win over consumers with vehicles that offer longer driving ranges and quicker charging times.
It also said it was developing a method to mass produce solid-state batteries, which it aims to commercialise in 2027-2028.
The announcement, which came a day before Toyota's annual shareholders meeting where strategy and governance will be under scrutiny, amounted to the fullest disclosure yet of the automaker's strategy to compete in the fast-growing market for EVs where it has lagged rivals.
Toyota stock was up 4.45% at 2,161 yen on Tuesday.
The automaker said it would produce an EV with a more efficient lithium-ion battery which would have a range of 1,000 km (621 miles). By comparison, the long-range version of the Tesla Model Y, the world's best-selling EV, can drive for about 530 km based on US testing standards.
Toyota did not detail expected costs or place of manufacture of its new long-range EV, nor did it state where it would make the next-generation solid-state batteries it has said were moving toward development or disclose required investment.
"What we want to achieve is to change the future with BEVs," Takero Kato, president of new Toyota EV unit BEV Factory, said in a video posted on the automaker's YouTube channel on Tuesday.
"We will launch the next-generation battery EVs globally and as a full lineup on the market from 2026," Kato said.
Toyota also detailed other technologies that it plans to deploy to reduce costs for its EVs and batteries.
The automaker pledged to use a "self-propelling" assembly line and Giga casting to cut production costs, adopting a production innovation pioneered by US EV leader Tesla.
BEV Factory, established in May, aims to produce about 1.7 million vehicles by 2030, Kato said - about half of the 3.5 million EVs Toyota aims to sell annually by that year.
In April, the automaker sold 8,584 EVs worldwide, including under its Lexus brand, accounting for more than 1% of its global sales in a single month for the first time.
GM and Samsung to build $3bn battery plant in Indiana
Separately, General Motors and Samsung SDI will build a more than $3 billion EV battery cell plant in Indiana, scheduled to begin operations in 2026.
The factory will create 1,700 jobs, the state's governor has said.
The companies said in April they would invest more than $3 billion to build a joint venture EV battery manufacturing plant in the US but did not name a location.
Reuters reported in January that GM had opted not to move forward with building a fourth US battery plant with LG Energy Solution in Indiana, but said GM could still pick Indiana for a battery plant with another partner.
The joint GM and Samsung SDI plant near New Carlisle, Indiana aims to have an annual production capacity of 30 gigawatt hours (GWh). The plant will produce high-nickel prismatic and cylindrical battery cells.
Samsung SDI CEO Yoonho Choi said in a statement:
"Securing Indiana as a strong foothold together with GM, Samsung SDI will supply products featuring the highest level of safety and quality in a bid to help the US move forward to an era of electric vehicles."
The US Energy Department finalised a $2.5 billion loan tothe GM-LG Energy Ultium Cells LLC joint venture late last year.
The companies are building a $2.6 billion plant in Michigan, set to open in 2024 after opening a plant in Ohio and are building another in Tennessee.
GM expects to build 400,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in North America from 2022 through mid-2024 and increase capacity to 1 million units annually in North America in 2025.
Reuters reported in April GM is considering building at least two additional EV plants on the top of the first four to meet future EV demand.
United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain and US Senator Bernie Sanders in April blasted the GM LG Ohio JV for paying workers much less than assembly plant employees even though it benefits from hefty US government tax credits.
The UAW has not yet endorsed President Joe Biden for a second term, citing concerns about EV policies.
President Biden, during a visit to Samsung in South Korea last year, urged companies to "enter into partnerships" with "American union members", saying JVs "that manufacture electric vehicle batteries would be made stronger by collective bargaining relationships" with US unions.
