Major automakers are accelerating their investments in USA in facilities for the production of electric vehicles, a market estimated to be worth $ 329.57 billion in North America by 2028.
General Motors (GM), Ford, Stellantis and Toyota, among the main automakers in North America, have literally stepped up to launch dozens of new models of electric vehicles in the coming years and try to be at the forefront of the next El Dorado of the sector.
A report released in the last hours indicates that between 2021 and 2028 the value of the electric car market in North America will have a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 35.2%, so that by the end of this period the figure it will reach US $ 329,570 million.
In terms of volume, the report prepared by Meticulous Research indicates that the CAGR of the electric vehicle segment in North America will be 18.7%, and that by 2028 2.9 million units will be sold in the region per year.
And this despite the impact of the pandemic of COVID-19 in the implementation of electric vehicles: According to the report, the adoption of electric vehicles fell in the first half of 2020 due to the change in consumer habits.
The impact of COVID-19
The appearance of COVID-19 has also meant a decrease in the use of shared means of transport due to the fear of contracting the disease from other passengers. In addition, the decision of many companies to allow their employees to work remotely has led to a drop in the number of kilometers traveled.
Despite this, investments by leading companies in the sector have only increased during the same period.
Yesterday, Stellantis and Toyota announced that they will allocate billions of dollars to build factories that will produce the batteries needed for their future electric cars.
The Stellantis group said it will create a lithium-ion battery production company together with LG Energy Solution to build a plant in North America with an annual production capacity of 40 gigawatt hours.
The factory will begin production in the first quarter of 2024 and is one of the basic parts of the company, formed by the merger of the French group PSA and Fiat Chrysler (FCA), so that by 2030 more than 40% of its sales will be in The United States to be electric cars.
And this is just the beginning: Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO, stated in the statement that the factory’s goal is to reach a total capacity of at least 260 gigawatt hours by 2030.
Stellantis has anticipated that it will invest 30,000 million euros (about US $ 34,898 million) between now and 2025 in the development of electric vehicles and software.
Toyota will produce batteries in the US
Meanwhile, Toyota will invest US $ 3.4 billion in the production of batteries in the United States, which will include the construction of a battery factory that will begin production in 2025.
The US $ 3.4 billion investment in the United States is part of the US $ 13.5 billion that Toyota announced in September that it will allocate to the development and production of automotive batteries worldwide.
The battery production plant will involve an investment of US $ 1.29 billion and will create some 1,750 direct jobs, Toyota said in a statement. Initially, production will be batteries for hybrid vehicles, a segment in which Toyota is a leader in the United States.
To date, Toyota has sold more than 4.5 million hybrid and electric vehicles in the United States. Almost 25% of the current sales of the two brands of the company in the country (Toyota and Lexus) are electrified vehicles.
The manufacturer expects that proportion to increase to 70% by 2030, which will mean between 1.5 million and 1.8 million units.
By 2025, Toyota will go from the 55 electrified models it markets worldwide to 70. The company also indicated that by 2030 it expects to sell two million zero-emission vehicles globally.
Investments by Stellantis and Toyota, and similar ones announced in recent weeks by GM and Ford, show the acceleration of the pace of electrification of the sector in North America, in addition to a change in strategy of companies that are suffering from chip shortages. for vehicle production.
Experts say that the semiconductor crisis, which will bring losses of tens of billions to the sector, has caused automakers to rethink the operation of their supply chains, especially with regard to batteries for electric cars.
The strategy of most, except Tesla, was to depend mainly on external suppliers, but now the big brands want to control the production of batteries so as not to have the problems that they are suffering with the chips.
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