FILE - The Toyota logo is shown on a dealership in Manchester, N.H., in this Thursday, Aug. 15, 2019, file photo. Toyota will invest an additional $8 billion in the hybrid and electric vehicle battery factory it’s constructing in central North Carolina, more than doubling its prior investments and expected number of new jobs, the company announced Tuesday, Oct. 31, 2023. RALEIGH, N.C.
“North Carolina’s transition to a clean energy economy is bringing better paying jobs that will support our families and communities for decades to come,” said Gov. Roy Cooper, who recently returned from a trip to Tokyo where he met with Toyota’s president, Koji Sato.
The U.S. still relies on international markets to mine and process most raw materials needed to make lithium-ion batteries. But the nation has been working to shore up production after a backlog in the global supply of computer chips — another essential component of electric vehicles — led several American automakers to shut down their production lines at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.