Here’s What Electric Vehicle Toyota Could Build in Indiana
Toyota reveals plans to upgrade its Princeton, Indiana, plant with the goal of launching electric SUV production in the coming years, adding to its current bZ4X model.
The automaker has recently previewed two electric SUV concepts aimed at slightly different audiences, with versions of both expected to be built stateside.
The two plants in Indiana and Kentucky will source batteries from a new $13.9 billion facility in North Carolina that will launch production in 2025.
Toyota has recently committed to building a three-row electric SUV in the state of Kentucky. But it has more EVs on the drawing board, including one slated to be built in a neighboring state.
The automaker has revealed a $1.4 billion investment in its existing plant in Princeton, Indiana, in the state's southeast quadrant that will produce a new battery-electric model. The plant will also see a new battery-pack assembly line for lithium-ion batteries that will be provided by a new $13.9 billion facility in North Carolina that will go online in 2025.
The Indiana site currently produces Highlander and Grand Highlander SUVs, in addition to the Toyota Sienna and Lexus TX.
The latest cash injection brings Toyota's total investment in Indiana up to $8 billion, with plans to create 340 new jobs in the process. And it will also start production of what Toyota calls an "all-new, three-row battery-electric SUV" that will join a separate all-new three-row battery-electric SUV slated to be made across the border in Georgetown, Kentucky, which was the subject of an announced $1.3 billion investment in 2023.
Just which models could we see Toyota build in these two states?
Toyota has released images of a slew of concepts, with one model dubbed simply "bZ Large SUV," appearing as a roomier and still road-biased version of the bZ4X. A production version is expected to wear the bZ5X badge, and could arrive as a 2026 model.
In October 2023 Toyota followed up that batch of concepts with the Land Cruiser Se at the Japan Mobility Show, which was specifically described as a three-row electric model with much boxier styling. But rumors of a separate Highlander EV have also been circulating.
Collectively, these two concepts are believed to be close previews of the future EV SUV duo that are expected to be produced in the Midwest, even though Toyota hasn't confirmed just which plant will build which model.
But one distinction we've learned so far is that the Kentucky model may go first in 2025, once the North Carolina battery plant is up and running, and it's expected to build the sleeker three-row that could carry the bZ5X badge.
Accordingly, a more rugged Highlander-style electric SUV could be the model slated to be built in Indiana starting in 2025 or a little later.
Among other things, this product cadence implies that the first three BEVs Toyota will offer stateside are all likely to be SUVs, with the bZ4X which is on sale now being built in Japan.
But other vehicles with battery-electric drivetrains are in the works as well, including a Crown-sized electric sedan believed to be among the next models to get the green light, though it hasn't been confirmed for North America.
Overall, Toyota plans to launch 10 new EVs by 2026, though not all will make it to the US.
Will electric SUVs and crossovers continue to see more popularity among buyers than sedans or other segments, or will buyers turn to other segments in the coming years? Let us know what you think.
