Konstantin Sychev

EV laggards Toyota, Mazda, Subaru and Nissan announced major new investments in next-generation battery production, backed by Japanese government subsidies. TOKYO — Toyota, Subaru, Mazda and Nissan are ramping up next-generation electric vehicle programs, with sweeping plans for new battery factories and government subsidies for new tech including solid-state battery production, as Japan Inc. races to catch up with the global EV leaders. In a string of coordinated announcements fired off Sept. 6, the four automakers and Japanese battery giant Panasonic Corp. listed a slew of battery advancements, investments and build outs. The combined plans amount to additional domestic battery production volume of some 36.6 gigawatt-hours across the four companies through the end of the decade, as the erstwhile laggards in the international EV trend step up their product programs in the late 2020s. Japan Inc.'s overall investment will total more than ¥944.6 billion ($6.58 billion). The plans cover a range of new technologies, from cylindrical lithium ion batteries for Subaru and Mazda to solid-state batteries for Toyota and lithium-iron-phosphate power packs for Nissan. Critically, the investments of Toyota Motor Corp., Nissan Motor Co., Subaru Corp. and Mazda Motor Corp. are supported by Japanese government aid of about ¥326.0 billion ($2.27 billion). Backing by the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) reflects concern in the Tokyo government that Japanese carmakers — the backbone of the country's economy — are falling behind rivals in South Korea, China and elsewhere as the global industry quickly electrifies. "We expect that our country's battery storage supply chain and the competitiveness of the battery storage industry will be strengthened," METI Minister Ken Saito said of the outlays. Toyota solid-state Among the breakthroughs was Toyota's announcement that it won METI approval to develop and produce two new types of batteries that are crucial to its next-generation EV development plans from around 2026. They include a next-gen, high-performance lithium ion battery and an all-solid state battery. Toyota envisions combined volume of 9 GWh a year. The performance lithium ion batteries will be produced through two Toyota battery subsidiaries, Prime Planet Energy & Solutions Inc., or PPES, and Primearth EV Energy Co., or PEVE. PPES is 51 percent owned by Toyota and 49 percent held by Panasonic Holdings. PEVE is wholly owned by Toyota and will be renamed Toyota Battery Co. from Oct. 1. The world's largest carmaker said it will pursue in-house development and production of the solid-state batteries, which are expected in the 2027-2028 timeframe. Toyota said production of the performance variant lithium ion batteries would begin around 2026. But according to a separate statement issued by METI, Toyota's total investment would total ¥245.0 billion ($1.71 billion) including a maximum subsidy of ¥86.5 billion ($602.9 million).

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