Forex – Japan has pledged up to $2.4 billion in support for related projects by Toyota Motor and other major companies as they work to strengthen their battery supply chain for electric vehicles.
Stating that more subsidies will be given for electric vehicle batteries, Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Ken Saito told reporters that the government will support 12 projects for accumulators or their parts, materials or production equipment with a total of 350 billion yen.
“We hope these efforts will strengthen Japan’s battery supply chain and the competitiveness of its battery industry,” Saito said.
The breakthrough will help boost the country’s storage battery production capacity by about 50% from 80 GWh to 120 gigawatt-hours (GWh), Japanese media reported early Friday. Saito said the government’s support includes investments from Toyota and Nissan Motor, as well as joint projects by Panasonic Holdings’ power unit with carmakers Subaru and Mazda.
