Toyota shares NC factory targets for shipping first batteries, hiring 3,000 workers
.JPG "Toyota is building its first car battery manufacturing plant in Randolph County, about 20 miles southeast of Greensboro, NC.")
2025 is poised to be a pivotal year for Toyota in Randolph County.
In March, the Japanese automaker expects to ship its first car batteries from its new multibillion-dollar site southeast of Greensboro. And by the end of December, Toyota plans to hire another 1,600 workers, bringing the Piedmont factory headcount to around 3,000.
“Every two weeks, we are onboarding anywhere from 40 to 60 people,” company spokesperson Emily Holland said in a phone interview this week.
It has been a little over three years since Toyota announced it would manufacture hybrid and electric vehicle batteries at a future facility in the small Randolph town of Liberty. The company expanded this project in October 2023, pledging to ultimately invest $13.9 billion and create 5,000 jobs by 2030. If Toyota meets these metrics, North Carolina will provide around $650 million in payroll tax benefits.
It is the largest economic project North Carolina has ever backed with state incentives, in terms of capital investment. By 2030, Toyota plans to operate 14 lithium-ion battery production lines across seven buildings at the site called Toyota Battery Manufacturing, North Carolina. Under its state agreement, Toyota will pay workers a minimum average wage of $62,234.
Specific production lines will be tailored to support hybrid, plug-in hybrid and all-electric vehicles. Toyota previously targeted this month for the plant’s first shipment, but Holland said heavy rains during construction pushed the expected deliveries back several weeks.
Compared to other major auto manufacturers, Toyota has prioritized hybrid vehicles over fully-electric cars, a decision that’s benefited the carmaker as EV demand softened. Toyota’s initial four production lines in North Carolina will make hybrid car batteries.
Mass production trials for these batteries are underway. Once ready, they will be placed inside Camry Hybrids. Toyota then anticipates opening a new battery manufacturing line in Liberty every four months through the end of the decade.
While Toyota has been hesitant to embrace all-electric vehicles, it has weighed whether to stop making gasoline-only cars for North America consumers, Reuters reports.
The company plans to begin equipment trials on its all-electric vehicle battery line in March. Plug-in hybrid batteries will come third, Holland said.
As more lines are added, more employees will be brought to the expanding campus.
“We’re literally like a little micro city,” Holland said, noting her company is building a health clinic and Walmart on its 1,800-acre site.
This story was originally published January 8, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
