Toyota to build new battery lab in Michigan
23AUTP08_09
08/01/2023
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Toyota will invest nearly $50 million for a new automotive battery lab at its R&D headquarters in York Township, Michigan. The lab is expected to be operational in 2025, the same year that Toyota begins producing its first U.S.-assembled EV. “The battery lab will be our first dedicated test facility in North America. Right now, battery testing is being done globally in the Toyota network and at our Toyota family of suppliers,” Jordan Choby, group vice president of powertrain at Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) R&D, told SAE Media during a press event.
Initial design plans for the Michigan R&D battery lab outline a 24,000-sq.ft. facility. But the footprint could change, which has been the case with Toyota's under-construction battery manufacturing plant in Liberty, North Carolina, the automaker's first battery production site in North America. “Based on the volumes that we are forecasting, we're expanding an expansion before the original plant is even built. So that's how fluid the situation is in North Carolina,” Jeff Makarewicz, group vice president for technical resources at TMNA R&D, said in an interview with SAE Media.
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- Citation
- Buchholz, K., "Toyota to build new battery lab in Michigan," Mobility Engineering, August 1, 2023.