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.”
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.
“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.
Elon Musk
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets.
Starlink wrapped up 2025 with impressive growth, adding more than 4.6 million new active customers and expanding service to 35 additional countries, territories, and markets. The company also completed deployment of its first-generation Direct to Cell constellation, launching over 650 satellites in just 18 months to enable cellular connectivity.
SpaceX highlighted Starlink’s impressive 2025 progress in an extensive report.
Key achievements from Starlink’s 2025 Progress
Starlink connected over 4.6 million new customers with high-speed internet while bringing service to 35 more regions worldwide in 2025. Starlink is now connecting 9.2 million people worldwide. The service achieved this just weeks after hitting its 8 million customer milestone.
Starlink is now available in 155 markets, including areas that are unreachable by traditional ISPs. As per SpaceX, Starlink has also provided over 21 million airline passengers and 20 million cruise passengers with reliable high-speed internet connectivity during their travels.
Starlink Direct to Cell
Starlink’s Direct to Cell constellation, more than 650 satellites strong, has already connected over 12 million people at least once, marking a breakthrough in global mobile coverage.
Starlink Direct to Cell is currently rolled out to 22 countries and 6 continents, with over 6 million monthly customers. Starlink Direct to Cell also has 27 MNO partners to date.
“This year, SpaceX completed deployment of the first generation of the Starlink Direct to Cell constellation, with more than 650 satellites launched to low-Earth orbit in just 18 months. Starlink Direct to Cell has connected more than 12 million people, and counting, at least once, providing life-saving connectivity when people need it most,” SpaceX wrote.
News
Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
Tesla’s Giga Nevada has reached an impressive milestone, producing its 6 millionth drive unit as 2925 came to a close.
To celebrate the milestone, the Giga Nevada team gathered for a celebratory group photo.
6 million drive units
The achievement was shared by the official Tesla Manufacturing account on social media platform X. “Congratulations to the Giga Nevada team for producing their 6 millionth Drive Unit!” Tesla wrote.
The photo showed numerous factory workers assembled on the production floor, proudly holding golden balloons that spelled out “6000000″ in front of drive unit assembly stations. Elon Musk gave credit to the Giga Nevada team, writing, “Congrats on 6M drive units!” in a post on X.
Giga Nevada’s essential role
Giga Nevada produces drive units, battery packs, and energy products. The facility has been a cornerstone of Tesla’s scaling since opening, and it was the crucial facility that ultimately enabled Tesla to ramp the Model 3 and Model Y. Even today, it serves as Tesla’s core hub for battery and drivetrain components for vehicles that are produced in the United States.
Giga Nevada is expected to support Tesla’s ambitious 2026 targets, including the launch of vehicles like the Tesla Semi and the Cybercab. Tesla will have a very busy 2026, and based on Giga Nevada’s activities so far, it appears that the facility will be equally busy as well.
News
Tesla Supercharger network delivers record 6.7 TWh in 2025
The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets.
Tesla’s Supercharger Network had its biggest year ever in 2025, delivering a record 6.7 TWh of electricity to vehicles worldwide.
To celebrate its busy year, the official @TeslaCharging account shared an infographic showing the Supercharger Network’s growth from near-zero in 2012 to this year’s impressive milestone.
Record 6.7 TWh delivered in 2025
The bar chart shows steady Supercharger energy delivery increases since 2012. Based on the graphic, the Supercharger Network started small in the mid-2010s and accelerated sharply after 2019, when the Model 3 was going mainstream.
Each year from 2020 onward showed significantly more energy delivery, with 2025’s four quarters combining for the highest total yet at 6.7 TWh.
This energy powered millions of charging sessions across Tesla’s growing fleet of vehicles worldwide. The network now exceeds 75,000 stalls globally, and it supports even non-Tesla vehicles across several key markets. This makes the Supercharger Network loved not just by Tesla owners but EV drivers as a whole.
Resilience after Supercharger team changes
2025’s record energy delivery comes despite earlier 2024 layoffs on the Supercharger team, which sparked concerns about the system’s expansion pace. Max de Zegher, Tesla Director of Charging North America, also highlighted that “Outside China, Superchargers delivered more energy than all other fast chargers combined.”
Longtime Tesla owner and FSD tester Whole Mars Catalog noted the achievement as proof of continued momentum post-layoffs. At the time of the Supercharger team’s layoffs in 2024, numerous critics were claiming that Elon Musk was halting the network’s expansion altogether, and that the team only remained because the adults in the room convinced the juvenile CEO to relent.
Such a scenario, at least based on the graphic posted by the Tesla Charging team on X, seems highly implausible.
Starlink achieves major milestones in 2025 progress report
Tesla Giga Nevada celebrates production of 6 millionth drive unit
