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Comment by bhpm | Hacker News Reader

I am curious about what vehicles these will be for. When Toyota says “EVs” they often mean hybrids. The article makes this distinction, but Toyota didn’t in any statements.

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The e-TNGA platform that underpins the BZ4x was supposed to have several more products built on it, including a larger SUV. This vehicle could be that SUV, or it could be one of the first products built on the platform that will replace the e-TNGA.

The Georgetown plant currently produces Camry and Rav4.

In the US, some PHEVs with relatively small batteries can qualify for the full $7,500 tax credit.

You might be on to something there. It would certainly explain the size of the investment. A $1.3B plant might not build a lot of EVs, but it could build quite a few PHEVs.

Specifically it's 7kWh minimum in addition to all of the other sourcing and assembly requirements. In practice there haven't been any PHEVs with less, the smallest PHEV battery so far in the US is 8kWh in a Ferrari. It'll be interesting to see if more small battery PHEVs come out trying to target HEV price points with the tax credit. It would still be a huge jump up from standard hybrids which as far as I'm aware are rarely more than 1.5kWh.

kWh makes sense if your goal is to stimulate US battery production but I really wish there were an all-electric range requirement, A hypothetical 6.8kWh Prius Prime would get more range that the 21kWh Wrangler 4xe.

https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/credits-for-new-clean...

Yeah, and the 7kwh should cost ~$1k. So if the manufacturer wants to maximize the number of $7,500 rebates, PHEV is the way to go. 11 PHEVs == one 300 mile compact crossover.

They don't even have to be good PHEVs. I agree that there should have been a range requirement.

The Kentucky plant will produce the upcoming 3-row BEV called bZ5X. Additional BEVs have been announced for 2026 and will likely share battery components from Kentucky and the new battery factory being built in North Carolina.

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