September 07, 2024 – The Japanese government has announced today, according to Reuters, its plan to bolster the country’s battery supply chain by offering additional subsidies for the production of electric vehicle batteries. This move includes a commitment to provide up to $2.4 billion in support for related projects by Toyota and other major companies, aiming to enhance the competitiveness of the nation’s energy storage battery industry.
As outlined by Japanese Economy, Trade and Industry Minister Ken Saito, the government will back 12 projects related to energy storage batteries or their components, materials, or production equipment, with a total value of nearly $2.44 billion. “We hope these efforts will strengthen Japan’s energy storage battery supply chain and the competitiveness of the energy storage battery industry,” Saito stated.
This initiative is expected to increase the country’s annual production capacity of energy storage batteries by approximately 50%, from the current 80 gigawatt-hours (GWh) to 120 GWh, the report noted. The Japanese government will provide support for investments in joint projects involving Toyota, Nissan, Panasonic’s energy division, Subaru, and Mazda.
Additionally, according to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Toyota, along with its battery subsidiaries Prime Planet Energy & Solutions and Primearth EV Energy, plans to invest approximately 245 billion yen to increase the production capacity of solid-state batteries and prismatic batteries by 9 GWh. Toyota intends to begin supplying these batteries in November 2026 and will establish battery factories in Hyogo and Fukuoka prefectures.
