Toyota Motor declared a new $1.29 billion battery plant in North Carolina to expand its electric vehicle works. The new plant will start production in 2025 and will be capable of supplying lithium-ion batteries for 8 lakh vehicles per year, and will pave the way for Toyota’s US production of electric vehicles (EVs), Chris Reynolds, Chief Administrative Officer for Toyota Motor North America said.

The investment will be done by Toyota Battery Manufacturing and is expected to create 1,750 new jobs. In October, Toyota said it would launch a new company and develop a new US automotive battery plant with Toyota Tsusho and a unit of the Toyota Group. Toyota will hold a 90 per cent stake in the battery firm.

Toyota said the North Carolina plant wants to expand to at least six production lines for 1.2 million vehicles per year. The investment is part of Toyota’s announcement that it will invest $3.4 billion in automotive battery development and production in the United States by 2030. The new company will focus on producing batteries for EVs.