Toyota soars after detailing plans for a new battery and innovative EV tech

Shares of Toyota (NYSE:) were sent soaring almost 5% after the company revealed Tuesday that the Japanese auto giant will introduce a high-performance, solid-state battery alongside other technologies to improve the driving range and cut costs of future electric vehicles (EVs).

The plan comes a day before an annual shareholder meeting where governance and strategy – including a slow pivot to battery EVs under former CEO Akio Toyoda – will be scrutinized.

The comprehensive technology roadmap unveiled by the Japanese automotive giant encompasses a wide range of initiatives, including advancements in next-generation battery technology and a groundbreaking overhaul of its factories. This disclosure represents the automaker’s most extensive plan to compete in the rapidly expanding EV market, where it has previously trailed behind competitors, notably Tesla (NASDAQ:).

Toyota aims to introduce its next-generation lithium-ion batteries, which will provide enhanced range capabilities and faster charging times, by 2026. Additionally, the company proudly revealed a significant “technological breakthrough” that effectively resolves durability issues associated with solid-state batteries. Toyota is actively working towards achieving mass production of these batteries and anticipates commercialization between 2027 and 2028.

An EV powered by a solid-state battery would have a range of 1,200 km and charging time of just 10 minutes, Toyota said. By comparison, the Tesla Supercharger network – the largest of its kind – offers the equivalent of 321 km of charge in 15 minutes.

The company also said that it was developing a dedicated EV platform to reduce the cost of new models and a heavily automated “self-propelling” assembly line that would do away with the definitive conveyor belt system developed by Henry Ford over 100 years ago.

It also said it would use Giga casting to cut production costs, adopting an innovation pioneered by Tesla using massive, aluminum casting machines to reduce vehicle complexity.

The roadmap unveiled on Tuesday showed that under new CEO Koji Sato, Toyota has adopted much of the revamp that engineers and planners have been developing as options for months.

“What we want to achieve is to change the future with BEVs,” Takero Kato, president of the new Toyota EV unit BEV Factory, said in a video posted on the automaker’s YouTube channel on Tuesday.

Shares of TM are up 5.09% in premarket trading on Tuesday.