Toyota announced plans to build a new automotive battery lab at its Michigan R&D headquarters from 2025.
The automaker said it would invest nearly $50 million to construct a new laboratory facility in York Township, Michigan to evaluate batteries for electric and electrified vehicles in North America and support development of EV batteries, from cell through pack.
The new Michigan battery lab will also ensure that Toyota's batteries meet North American customer requirements and the automaker's targets for performance, quality, and durability.
In addition to working with current battery production, lab engineers will explore new battery configurations for future products. Toyota says their research may also contribute to the development of new electrified vehicle architectures.
The automaker will explore further expansion of the lab's capabilities and opportunities for supporting the needs of the battery and BEV ecosystem. Toyota expects operations at the new battery lab to begin in 2025.
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"This new investment in our North American R&D operation, which has been a key pillar of the Michigan automotive industry for more than 50 years, shows Toyota's directional shift towards electrification for all. By adding these critical evaluation capabilities around automotive batteries, our team is positioned to better serve the needs of our customers, including Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina and Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky, the latter of which will soon be assembling the recently announced all-new, three-row, battery electric SUV."
Shinichi Yasui, executive vice president of Toyota Motor North America (TMNA), Research and Development
Toyota said the team at the automotive battery lab will also work with other North American partner suppliers to integrate locally made battery parts and materials in support of the automaker's multi-pathway approach to reducing carbon emissions through hybrid, plug-in hybrid, fuel cell, and battery electric product offerings.
Battery development aside, other lab activities are expected to include evaluations using Level 2 and Level 3 charging as well as connectivity to power sources and infrastructure. In addition, Toyota is upgrading chassis dynamometers at both Toyota R&D campuses in York Township and Ann Arbor to accommodate full battery electric vehicle evaluations.
The Japanese automaker currently offers 22 electrified vehicle options in the US across the Toyota and Lexus brands, the most among any automaker. The company plans to have an electrified option available for every Toyota and Lexus model globally by 2025 as part of its pledge to invest more than $70 billion in vehicle electrification by 2030.
