(Reuters) -Toyota Motor Corp will invest up to 730 billion yen ($5.27 billion) in Japan and the United States towards supplying automotive batteries for battery electric vehicles, the Japanese automaker said on Wednesday.
The firm aims to begin battery production between 2024 and 2026 with an investment intended to augment battery production capacity in both the countries by up to 40 GWh.
It will invest about 400 billion yen on Toyota plants and Prime Planet Energy & Solutions Co, a joint venture with Panasonic Holdings Corp, plant in the western Japanese city of Himeji.
In addition, about $2.5 billion will be invested in Toyota Battery Manufacturing in North Carolina.
Automakers worldwide are spending billions of dollars to ramp up battery and electric vehicle production in the face of tougher environmental regulations.
($1=138.4300 yen)
(Reporting by Satoshi Sugiyama in Tokyo and Baranjot Kaur in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Rashmi Aich)