Toyota marks production launch at NC battery factory, surpasses 2,500 workers
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- Toyota starts battery production in Liberty, NC, ships first batteries and runs four lines
- Toyota employs about 2,500 workers and targets $13.9B investment at the site
- State grants tie to jobs and investment could deliver roughly $439M in tax breaks
In a dark warehouse enlivened with neon lights and up-tempo music, Toyota and North Carolina political leaders gathered Wednesday to mark the start of production at the carmaker’s first battery plant outside of Japan.
The event was held nearly four years after Toyota unveiled plans to build a hybrid and electric battery factory on an 1,800-acre megasite near the small Randolph County town of Liberty, about 20 miles south of Greensboro. The automaker started its first production line in January and shipped its first car batteries from the Liberty facility in the spring.
Toyota says it currently employs around 2,500 workers and runs four hybrid battery production lines at the facility. Company officials say that by 2034 the local headcount should exceed 5,000.
The site is the largest economic project North Carolina has ever backed with state incentives, in terms of capital investment. Under its job development investment grant, Toyota targets spending $13.9 billion on the facility. Toyota aims to eventually operate 14 lithium-ion battery production lines across seven buildings at the site called Toyota Battery Manufacturing, North Carolina. Per its grant, Toyota must pay workers an average wage of at least $62,234.
Between state and local incentives, Toyota is poised to receive around $439 million in payroll tax breaks if it meets its minimum investment and job creation targets by 2029.
Specific production lines will be tailored to support hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles. Toyota has prioritized hybrid vehicles over fully-electric cars — both globally and at its North Carolina factory — a decision company officials say has been advantageous as electric vehicle demand in recent years has weakened and federal EV tax credits ended this year under the Republican-backed One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
“We’ll follow market demand,” said Don Stewart, president of Toyota North Carolina.
Toyota shipped its first hybrid batteries to a Mazda Toyota plant in Huntsville, Alabama for the Corolla Cross SUV. It also supplies batteries for the Camry in Georgetown, Kentucky, and will eventually send them to Canada for the RAV4.
Among the speakers in Randolph County were Gov. Josh Stein, U.S. Sen. Ted Budd, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
Ted Ogawa, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America, said the battery factory reflects the company’s “deep belief in America, in North Carolina and in creating a more sustainable world,” and said it will help reduce carbon emissions.
“The launch of this plant marks a pivotal moment in the future of electrification for Toyota and for U.S. auto manufacturing,” Ogawa said.
During the ceremony, Ogawa announced Toyota would invest $10 billion in the United States over the next five years, a move Duffy credited to President Donald Trump’s trade policy approach. “President Trump has asked the world to make investments in America, because when companies invest in America, that means great American jobs,” he said.
Toyota officials later told reporters they were not aware of how much, if any, of this additional Toyota spending will be in North Carolina.
News & Observer reporter Richard Stradling contributed to this reporting.
This story was originally published November 12, 2025 at 12:04 PM.
