Toyota's slogan is "Let's go places" — and its latest place is the Tar Heel State.
Electric vehicles (EVs) are growing in popularity around the world, and Toyota is getting in on the action.
Earlier in October, the Japanese carmaker announced that it is going to construct a massive electric vehicle battery plant right outside Greensboro, North Carolina, as reported by TechCrunch.
But the main story here is that Toyota is tripling its original investment into this factory, now totaling just under four billion dollars.
The change to the company's plan came soon after Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), its largest-ever climate package. Part of the $369 billion of funding included in the IRA is $7,500 in tax credits so that EVs are cheaper and more accessible for all Americans.
And as EVs continue to become less expensive, this $7,500 reduction in price will help many more Americans drive vehicles that don't pollute the air or contribute as much to the overheating of our planet.
But in order to qualify for the $7,500, the IRA increasingly requires that the batteries be sourced and manufactured in the U.S. Therefore, it is likely that Toyota is trying to get in on the IRA action that will have many more Americans driving EVs.
This American manufacturing requirement has led to many other automakers to pursue similar plans to expand EV battery production across the country. For example, Honda recently announced its own $4.4 billion EV battery venture in the U. S. of A.
Toyota's announcement can be seen as part of the larger trends toward more Americans holding clean energy jobs as well as the availability of cheaper EVs.
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