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Toyota aims to start producing EV batteries in North Carolina next year

Credit: Toyota

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Toyota is aiming to start producing electric vehicle (EV) batteries next year at its upcoming factory in North Carolina, set to eventually build battery packs for the company’s hybrids, plugin hybrids and EVs.

After increasing its investment into the plant to $13.9 billion total last year, Toyota has continued to make progress on construction at the site since it broke ground in the latter part of 2022.

Toyota chairman predicts EVs will only reach 30 percent market share

In an exclusive tour of the facility with Automotive News last week, Sean Suggs, Toyota Battery Manufacturing President at the North Carolina complex, noted that the factory is scheduled to begin production of EV batteries it can sell in the first quarter of next year. The initial batteries will be for a three-row EV slated to be produced at Toyota’s plant in Georgetown, Kentucky.

“Things are progressing really, really nicely,” Suggs said. “We’re in the heat of trial activity as we speak, doing trial activity in our first building. We’ve got about 300 team members that are on-site each day; the rest of them [around 500] are in our headquarters location in Greensboro.”

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Suggs also says roughly 1,000 people are awaiting start dates, ahead of the Japanese automaker’s plans to employ 5,100 people total upon planned completion in 2028. The North Carolina plant is also expected to produce 30 GWh of EV batteries per year, across seven buildings featuring two production lines each.

The factory will include 10 production lines total for future battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) and plugin hybrid battery packs, and four lines dedicated to building battery packs for hybrid vehicles. The battery “cans” and other components will be built at an on-site supplier building dubbed Fuji Springs, while the site will also feature a full-time fire department, three drive-through bays, and several other support structures.

The update comes as Toyota has been criticized by many in EV circles for not committing to full electrification quickly enough. As just one example of the sentiment, Ted Ogawa, Toyota Motor North America CEO, said in March that a full push to EVs could be a “wasted investment.”

The company has also defended itself against being anti-EV, with one executive in the company’s Australian arm earlier this year clarifying why the company still wants to invest in hybrids:

“Toyota’s not anti-EV. We’re actually not. And we want to play in that market. We want to be part of it. We’re excited by it,” said Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia VP of Sales and Marketing, in a statement in February.

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“We just don’t see it as the golden bullet or the single golden bullet towards carbon neutrality. The multi-pathway is still our strategy, but we’re excited to be coming into the BEV market. We know it plays a role.”

What are your thoughts? Let me know at zach@teslarati.com, find me on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

Zach is a renewable energy reporter who has been covering electric vehicles since 2020. He grew up in Fremont, California, and he currently lives in Colorado. His work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, KRON4 San Francisco, FOX31 Denver, InsideEVs, CleanTechnica, and many other publications. When he isn't covering Tesla or other EV companies, you can find him writing and performing music, drinking a good cup of coffee, or hanging out with his cats, Banks and Freddie. Reach out at zach@teslarati.com, find him on X at @zacharyvisconti, or send us tips at tips@teslarati.com.

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Elon Musk

Pope Leo XIV slams Elon Musk’s pay package due to misinformation (Opinion)

The Pope’s comments seem to be guided by a misunderstanding of what Elon Musk’s pay package entails.

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Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

Pope Leo XIV has voiced sharp criticism of corporate pay structures, singling out Tesla CEO Elon Musk and other business leaders as examples of the widening gap between executives and ordinary workers. The pontiff warned that excessive wealth concentration could erode societal values and fuel global polarization.

Pope Leo XIV’s comments seem to be guided by a misunderstanding of what Elon Musk’s pay package entails, and the net positive it would result to TSLA shareholders and the world as a whole.

Pope Leo XIV’s comments

In his first interview since becoming pope in May, Leo XIV, the first US-born head of the Catholic Church, pointed to reports that Musk could become the world’s first trillionaire. As noted in a report from the Financial Times, Pope Leo XIV singled out Elon Musk as an example of the type of wealth that was undermining “the value of human life, of the family, of the value of society.”

“Yesterday, the news (arrived) that Elon Musk is going to be the first trillionaire in the world. What does that mean, and what’s that about? If that is the only thing that has any value any more, then we are in big trouble,” the pontiff stated. 

Musk was not the only executive who caught the ire of the leader of the Catholic Church. He noted that while Musk’s pay was problematic, it was only an example of the “continuously wider gap between the income levels of the working class and the money that the wealthiest receive.” 

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“CEOs that 60 years ago might have been making four to six times what the workers are receiving, the last figure I saw, it’s 600 times what average workers are receiving,” he stated.

Borne out of misrepresentation

A look at Pope Leo XIV’s comments surrounding Elon Musk’s wealth suggests that he may not necessarily be familiar with how the CEO earns his net worth. Musk’s wealth is tied to his stakes in his companies, with a good portion of it coming from Tesla and SpaceX. Thus, quite unlike what the mainstream media narrative might suggest, Elon Musk does not necessarily have a giant vault of gold coins he is hoarding somewhere.

If one were to look at Elon Musk’s pay package, which would result in him becoming a trillionaire, one would see that the CEO could only earn his keep if he proves immense value to Tesla and its shareholders. 

His payout might be notable, but he would have to lead Tesla into becoming an $8.5 trillion company first. At this level, Tesla would likely be a notable force of good that would provide a net benefit for people worldwide. Ultimately, it appears that Pope Leo XIV’s comments about Musk may be borne from information gathered only through mainstream sources, some of which tend to have a notable slant against the CEO.

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Elon Musk

Elon Musk affirms Tesla commitment and grueling work schedule: “Daddy is very much home”

The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market.

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Tesla CEO Elon Musk reiterated his commitment to the electric vehicle maker and its future projects this week, responding to speculation following his $1 billion purchase of TSLA stock. 

The remarks came as Tesla shares crossed the $400 mark on the stock market, extending a rally fueled in part by Musk’s TSLA purchase.

Elon Musk’s nonstop work schedule

Amidst the reaction of TSLA stock to Musk’s $1 billion investment, Tesla owners such as @greggertruck noted that “Daddy’s home.” Musk replied, stating that “Daddy is very much home.” He then shared details of a packed weekend of work, which was definitely grueling but completely within character for a “wartime CEO.”

Musk did note, however, that he had lunch with his kids during the weekend despite his extremely busy schedule.

“Daddy is very much home. Am burning the midnight oil with Optimus engineering on Friday night, then redeye overnight to Austin arriving 5am, wake up to have lunch with my kids and then spend all Saturday afternoon in deep technical reviews for the Tesla AI5 chip design. 

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“Fly to Colossus II on Monday to walk the whole datacenter floor, review transformers and power production (excellent progress), depart midnight. Then up to 12 hours of back-to-back meetings across all Tesla departments, but with a particular focus on AI/Autopilot, Optimus production plans, and vehicle production/delivery,” Musk wrote in his post

Wartime CEO

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives described Musk as operating in “wartime CEO mode,” highlighting autonomous driving and AI as a trillion-dollar market opportunity for Tesla. Musk reiterated this point late last month as well, when he outlined the several projects he is juggling among his numerous companies. At the time, Musk stated that he was busy with Starship 10, Grok 5, and Tesla V14. This was despite his notable presence on X. 

With Tesla Master Plan Part IV being partly released, the company is entering what could very well be its most ambitious stage to date. To usher in an era of sustainable abundance, Tesla would definitely require a “wartime CEO,” someone who could remain locked in and determined to push through any obstacles to ensure that the company achieves its goals.

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Elon Musk confirms cryptic X post was related to SpaceX, not TSLA stock

Musk shared his update in a post on social media platform X.

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Joel Kowsky, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Elon Musk has confirmed that a cryptic post he shared earlier this month was related to his private sale enterprise, SpaceX, not electric vehicle maker Tesla. 

Musk shared his update in a post on social media platform X. 

Musk’s cryptic post

Earlier this month, the CEO posted the cryptic words “You’ll Thank Me Later” on X. The post quickly gained attention on social media, as Tesla watchers and Elon Musk fans speculated on what the words could mean. With the announcement that Musk has purchased $1 billion of TSLA stock in the open market, some speculated that the cryptic post was a teaser of sorts to shareholders.

Musk’s massive TSLA purchase was the biggest in history, and it also stood as a notable vote of confidence for the company as it attempts to enter a new era led by robots, AI, and autonomous driving. This was likely one of the reasons why Tesla stock saw a notable rise on Monday’s trading. In another post, however, Musk confirmed that his cryptic post was not in any way related to his stock purchase.

All SpaceX

Considering that all the words in Musk’s post started with an uppercase letter, some space fans immediately speculated that the CEO was teasing something related to SpaceX. The company’s three drone ships, Just Read the Instructions (JRTI), Of Course I Still Love You (OCISLY), and A Shortfall of Gravitas (ASOG), after all, follow similar naming styles. 

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This was one of the reasons why some TSLA shareholders noted on X that Musk’s post was likely SpaceX-related. In response to one of these comments, Musk stated that these speculations are “Correct.”

The only question now is what exactly Musk was referring to in his post. Perhaps the CEO really was hinting at the name of the drone ship that will be tasked to retrieve Starship in the middle of the ocean.

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