Toyota Motor North America, the Plano-based arm of the automaker, has opened a battery testing and development center in Saline, Michigan.
The 30,000-square-foot Toyota Battery Center of North America evaluates and develops batteries for the company's hybrids, plug-in hybrids, hydrogen vehicles and battery-electric vehicles, according to Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology International. The site gives Toyota's Michigan battery teams the ability to work on every stage of a battery's life, from sourcing raw materials through customer use and recycling.
The center also backs up Toyota's factories. It will handle battery evaluation for Toyota Battery Manufacturing in North Carolina and for the automaker's vehicle assembly plants in North America.
"For Toyota customers, this facility means Toyota engineers can detect and resolve field concerns faster and closer to the source," said Jordan Choby, Toyota's group vice president of powertrain. He said it will also help the company "develop longer-lasting batteries designed to perform in the conditions American drivers face every day."
Keita Moritsu, chief technology officer for Toyota Motor North America R&D, said, "Toyota has long been at the forefront of battery development. This center is where that leadership expands to North America."
Toyota plans to give the University of Michigan Electric Vehicle Center, which it helped found, access to the facility so outside research partners can use its test equipment. The company described that arrangement as part of an effort to train battery engineers and technicians in Michigan.
