It's not usually surprising when Toyota Motor (TM 1.42%) chooses to buck an industry trend. The Japanese auto giant has often taken a different path, often with very good results. But Toyota's continued reluctance to go big on electric vehicles (EVs), even as sales of EVs soar, has surprised many auto investors. In this Motley Fool Live video, recorded on Dec. 9, Industry Focus host Nick Sciple and Motley Fool senior auto specialist John Rosevear take a look at Toyota's plans for an EV battery plant in the U.S., and whether it means that Toyota is finally getting with the EV program.
A transcript follows the video.
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Nick Sciple: Toyota is going to be developing a battery factory in North Carolina. What do you make of this deal?
John Rosevear: A little different take on this one. Toyota among the major global automakers has been kind of dragging their feet a lot on EVs. They want to sell more hybrids. They think hybrids are a better intermediate solution [versus fully electric vehicles] and so forth. I will note that this was a splashy announcement. But if you look at the fine details, this $1.29 billion that they're spending is part of an announcement that they announced earlier this year. It's batteries for 200,000 vehicles, but that's not all EVs, it's hybrids and EVs in a mix to be determined. Production isn't going to start until 2025. This isn't something that's being done at all possible speed right now. It is an interesting deal. Again, I do feel this is Toyota's management saying, "Hey wait, us, too," [laughs] in light of all these announcements as well. But I think we need to wait and see if Toyota steps up with a more aggressive EV commitment than they have so far.
