Toyota, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru bolster EV battery plans with aid from Japan

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 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 yen ($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, Nissan, Subaru and Mazda are supported by Japanese government aid of about 326.0 billion yen ($2.27 billion).

Backing by the powerful Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) reflects concern in the Tokyo government that Japanese automakers — 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.

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, or PPES, and Primearth EV Energy, 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 automaker 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. The company did not disclose investment figures or details about subsidies.

But according to a separate statement issued by METI, Toyota's total investment would total 245.0 billion yen ($1.71 billion) including a maximum subsidy of 86.5 billion yen ($602.9 million).

The automaker sold just 104,018 BEVs worldwide last year, up from 24,466 in 2022. In the U.S., where Toyota offers only two full-electric cars, it delivered 14,715 BEVs in 2023.

Tesla, by contrast, delivered 1.8 million vehicles globally last year. But Toyota has said it envisions selling 1.5 million BEVs globally in 2026 on its way selling 3.5 million a year in 2030.

Nissan also received METI approval to develop and mass produce lithium-iron-phosphate batteries, a kind of chemistry seen as bringing lower production costs and better safety.

Nissan said it would install the LFP batteries in electric minivehicles around 2028 and make the batteries in Japan. Production volume was pegged at 5 GWh a year, with total investment of 153.3 billion yen ($1.07 billion) including a 55.7 billion yen ($388.2 million) grant.

While unveiling Nissan's new mid-term business plan in March, CEO Makoto Uchida said his company would invest more than 400 billion yen ($2.79 billion) in new battery capacity, enough for about 1.4 million EVs by the end of the decade.

Meanwhile, Toyota-affiliated automakers Subaru and Mazda joined the chorus of battery updates. Both of their battery production plans will be done in conjuction with Panasonic.

Subaru and Panasonic will build a new battery factory near the automaker's Japanese production hub north of Tokyo in Gunma prefecture. It will make cyclindrical lithium ion batteries for a line of EVs that Subaru plans to produce in the late 2020s. Battery capacity at the new plant will be on top of batteries already slated for delivery from a separate Panasonic plant from 2027.

Subaru wants EVs to comprise about half its targeted global sales of 1.2 million in 2030.

The new plant in Gunma will have capacity of about 16 GWh a year, on top of the 4 GWh sourced from the other Panasonic plant, in Suminoe, Osaka prefecture. The Gunma plant investment totals 463.0 billion yen ($3.23 billion), including a subsidy of up to 156.4 billion yen ($1.09 billion).

Mazda will also team with Panasonic to source next-generation cylindrical batteries from the supplier's factories in Suminoe and in Kaizuka, both in Osaka, from 2027.

Mazda, which expects to derive 25 to 40 percent of its global sales from EVs in 2030, wants additional volume of 6.5 GWh a year by 2030. The new investment is expected to reach 83.3 billion yen ($580.6 million) with a maximum subsidy of 28.3 billion yen ($197.2 million).

Naoto Okamura contributed to this report