Toyota Motor said on Monday that it is building a new $1.29 billion battery plant in North Carolina.
The move comes as the automaker looks forward to expanding its hybrid and electric vehicle efforts.
The new plant, located a site in Liberty that will start production in 2025, will initially be able to supply lithium-ion batteries for 800,000 vehicles yearly and will pave the way for the automaker’s U.S. production of electric vehicles, according to Chris Reynolds, chief administrative officer for Toyota Motor North America.
The investment will be made through a new company called Toyota Battery Manufacturing. It is expected that about 1,750 new U.S. jobs will be created with this plant.
North Carolina said the new plant will start producing batteries for Toyota’s hybrid vehicles, and it aims to produce batteries for EVs long term.
The state will reimburse the automaker for up to $79.1 million over 20 years and if the automaker expands the project to $3 billion it could get an estimated $315 million.
The state-approved additional support to help with final site preparations, consisting of $135 million for road and other site improvements. If the automaker expands the project then another $185 million in site development funds would become available.
The automaker said the North Carolina plant plans to eventually expand to at least six production lines for up to 1.2 million batteries on annual basis.
The investment is part of the $13.5 billion plan of Toyota which it announced in September to spend globally by 2030 for developing batteries.
