Toyota the EV battery supplier? Honda will use them to power up its 400,000 hybrids in the US
Toyota is now a battery supplier? That’s the plan. Honda will use Toyota’s batteries to power up its around 400,000 hybrids sold in the US.
Toyota will supply batteries for Honda hybrids in the US
Toyota’s $14 billion battery plant in North Carolina is ready for business. The facility will begin shipping out batteries next month, and it looks like Toyota already has its first customer.
According to a new Nikkei report, starting in fiscal 2025, Toyota will supply batteries for the roughly 400,000 Honda hybrids sold in the US.
Honda currently uses batteries from China and Japan for vehicles sold in the US, but the company is (like most) preparing for changes under Trump.
Honda’s electrified vehicles, including EVs and hybrids, accounted for over a quarter of US sales last year. The company sold over 308,500 hybrids and 40,400 electric vehicles in the US in 2024. The batteries will likely be used in the CR-V and other Honda hybrid vehicles.
Earlier this month, an extra 10% tariff on imports from China took effect. And that’s on top of the 10% imposed in February.
With more expected, including a 25% increase in vehicles imported from Japan, automakers are tightening up their supply chains.
A 25% tariff on Japanese vehicles, up from 2.5% currently, is estimated to cost the six major Japanese automakers about $20 billion in the US.
Tariffs on imports from Mexico and Canada could cost Honda roughly $4.7 billion alone. Teaming up with Toyota to use its batteries for its hybrids is part of Japan’s broader global plans to ween off dependence on China and others for batteries and other emerging tech.
The new US plant, Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina (TBMC), is over seven million square feet, or about the size of 121 football fields.
As Toyota’s first in-house battery factory outside of Japan, the plant could be a game changer as Trump’s tariffs take effect. Securing Honda as a buyer will already help Toyota cut costs as it ramps up output.
Toyota plans to ramp up electrified vehicle (EV, PHEV, and hybrid) sales in North America from around 40% last year to 80% by 2030.
Electrek’s Take
Trump’s tariffs are already causing havoc, with nearly every automaker warning that they put the US further behind. Overseas automakers are not the only ones feeling the heat, either.
The “Big Three,” GM, Ford, and Jeep maker Stellantis all build vehicles in Canada and Mexico. GM cut output at its plant in Mexico in January, where the electric Chevy Equinox, Blazer, and Honda Prologue are made. Stellantis halted operations at its Brampton Assembly Plant in Canada last month, where it was expected to launch the Jeep Compass EV production. What’s next?
For Toyota, it looks like its $14 billion bet to build batteries in the US is already paying off. Now, we just need it to introduce more EVs.
After unveiling three new electric SUVs in Europe last week, including the updated bZ4X, Toyota hinted more is on the way for the US. Check back soon for updates.
What do you think? Do you want to see more Toyota EVs in the US, like the new C-HR+? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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ACME stock soars on today’s cartoonishly silly episode of Quick Charge, we watch Tesla Autopilot crash into a wall with a painting on it, make the Elon stans look silly when they point out shady behavior from their fearless leader, and toss out the notion that some franchise dealers might help the troubled EV brand make more sales in red states.
We also cover Toyota as it moves to position itself for global battery dominance by suppling batteries to more than 400,000 electrified Honda vehicles per year, plus an upgraded Xpeng G6 electric SUV that makes everything on this side of the Pacific look positively plebeian. All this and more, enjoy!
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Tesla has already started offering 0% APR on loans for the new Model Y in China, showing a clear sign of weak demand.
We recently reported that Tesla is under increased pressure from competition in China, the world’s largest EV market.
The Tesla Model 3 was recently surpassed in sales by the Xiaomi SU7 in a record short period from starting production. The SU7 not only outsells Model 3 in China, but Xiaomi’s electric sedan has a 31-34-week-long order backlog compared to just 1-3 weeks for Tesla’s.
Last month, Tesla started offering a new RMB 8,000 ($1,100 USD) insurance subsidy and 0% loans on new Model 3 orders.
Tesla didn’t apply these same offers to new Model Y orders because Tesla enjoyed more demand for the vehicle due to the launch of the Model Y refresh, and the production launch limited the supplies.
However, we also noted that reports of more than 200,000 orders for the new Model Y were exaggerated and the current delivery timelines pointed to soft demand for the new Model Y.
We noted that a good indication of when Tesla is running out of the backlog of orders, which was opened in January, for the newly delivered vehicle would be if Tesla brings back financing incentives on the Model Y.
Today, Tesla announced that it was bringing back the 0% interest loans on the base version of the new Model Y:
The Model Y RWD is by far Tesla’s best-selling car in China and Tesla is now offering up to 3 years at 0% for a 30% down payment and some discounted rates for a smaller down payment.
The incentive starts now and up to April 30. Tesla wrote:
If you purchase a Model Y rear-wheel drive version from March 18, 2025 to April 30, 2025 and pick up the car before the order expiration date according to the delivery and payment terms in the order, eligible customers can apply for the following financial preferential plans:
Tesla currently quotes “2-4 weeks” as a delivery timeline for new orders for the new Model Y RWD, and 6-10 weeks for Long Range AWD.
The Long Range appears to enjoy a bit more demand. Tesla even slightly increased the price by RMB 10,000 yuan ($1,380).
Electrek’s Take
It’s important to consider that Tesla is believed to be selling a mix of RWD vs AWD around 3 to 1 or even 4 to 1. Therefore, any change in pricing and subsidized loans to the Short Range RWD would have a massive impact on Tesla.
I have to say, I’m surprised. I suspected Tesla would have some issues selling the new Model Y in the second half of the year after some excitement for the new version wore off and competition like the Xiaomi YU7 would arrive, but I didn’t think it would come so fast.
Even if this is because Tesla was able to ramp up production of the new version faster, which could mean more deliveries in Q1, the fact that they are already discounting them is a terrible sign of demand.
I didn’t have high hopes for Tesla’s prospects in China in 2025, but even I thought this would not come for another 3-5 months.
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The World Liberty Financial website arranged on a smartphone in New York, US, on Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2025.
Gabby Jones | Bloomberg | Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s World Liberty Financial crypto project said on Monday that it raised $250 million in its second token sale, bringing the total amount of coins sold to $550 million.
WLFI, a venture backed by the first family that describes itself as a sort of crypto banking platform, launched in October, weeks before Trump’s election victory. In a document published at the time of launch, WLFI said the Trump family could take home 75% of net revenue.
In Monday’s release, WLFI said more than 85,000 participants underwent so-called know-your-customer verification to gain access to the token sale. Co-founder Zach Witkoff, son of billionaire U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff, is quoted in the release as saying that “WLFI is on track to supercharge DeFi,” or decentralized finance.
In January, Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun upped his stake in WLFI tokens to $75 million. A court filing the following month showed that Sun and the SEC were exploring a resolution to the regulator’s civil fraud case against the crypto entrepreneur.
WLFI is one of several crypto projects in the Trump family that are kicking off just as the president is pushing a crypto-friendly agenda. Earlier this month, President Trump signed an executive order to establish a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve.
According to a memo from the White House last week, David Sacks, the Trump administration’s AI and crypto czar, sold over $200 million worth of digital asset-related investments personally and through his firm, Craft Ventures, before starting the job. Sacks said in a podcast that he “didn’t want to even have the appearance of a conflict.”
At the end of February, the SEC declared that meme tokens are not securities. The announcement came after the president and First Lady Melania Trump launched their own meme coins in the days leading up to the inauguration.
WATCH: Trump’s bitcoin reserve leaves crypto investors disappointed
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