Toyota Ready To Production Of Electric SUVs At Kentucky Factory In 2025

Toyota Prius with a hybrid engine is marketed in the US. (photo: twitter @toyota)

JAKARTA - Toyota Motor Corp will start production of medium to large electric utility vehicle (SUV) at the Kentucky factory in early summer 2025. They are targeting monthly production of more than 10,000 by the end of 2025, the Nikkei business newspaper reported on Tuesday, February 21.

The Japanese company targets to sell around 1 million electric vehicles globally by 2026.

A Toyota spokesman said that the reported details were not something the company had announced, and that there had been no decision on when production of electric cars would begin in the United States.

Toyota has been producing electric cars since 1997, when they launched their first Prius electric car in Japan. However, this car is not fully electric, but is a hybrid car that uses electric motors and internal combustion engines.

Toyota has developed several electric cars, including Mirai, hydrogen fuel cell-powered vehicles, and C-HR EVs, which launched on the Chinese market in 2020. Toyota has also announced its plans to launch a new global electric car by 2022, although details have yet to be announced.

There are several factors that cause Toyota to be late in developing electric cars completely compared to other car manufacturers. One of them is the company's strategy to focus on hybrid cars, such as the Toyota Prius, which combines gasoline engines and electric motors. By the time electric cars became popular, Toyota felt that battery technology was still immature and was unable to meet customer needs effectively.

In addition, Toyota also questioned the availability of the charging infrastructure needed by electric cars. The company feels that most consumers will not buy electric cars if they don't have easy and comfortable access to charging stations.

However, in recent years, Toyota has started developing electric cars and is targeting the sale of one million electric cars by 2025. Toyota has also released several electric cars, such as the Toyota RAV4 EV, the Toyota iQ EV, and the Toyota C-HR EV for select markets.