Toyota Delays US EV Plans As Sales Slow

Toyota has decided to postpone the opening of its electric vehicle (EV) assembly plant in Kentucky until 2026. The Japanese automaker had originally planned to start producing its first electric vehicle at the Kentucky facility in late 2025.
However, Japan’s The Nikkei newspaper has reported that this date is now being pushed back to 2026. The automaker had stated earlier in the year that it would be spending $1.3 billion to build a three-row electric sport utility vehicle (SUV) at the Kentucky plant. In addition to this delay, the Nikkei article claims that Toyota has abandoned plans to build an SUV under the Lexus brand in North America by 2030 in favor of shipping finished cars from Japan to the US.

Nevertheless, it continues to expect that the North American EV market will expand in the long run and intends to keep funding the industry while keeping an eye out for stricter environmental laws. Toyota also declared this week that it is increasing its $500 million investment in the air taxi startup Joby Aviation in addition to the previously mentioned news. Joby Aviation is a California-based transportation company that is developing an all-electric vertical take-off and landing air taxi for commercial passenger service in major cities worldwide.