Toyota and LGES accelerate EV push with fluoride-ion research and US battery production

Toyota is expanding its EV lineup and advancing fluoride-ion battery research with AI, while LG Energy Solution begins US cell production for the 2027 Highlander EV.

This article was drafted with AI assistance from multiple sources and was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication.

Toyota is broadening its electric-vehicle lineup and battery research efforts. The company launched the all-electric C-HR earlier in 2026, adding a battery-electric model to a portfolio that currently includes the bZ as one of three BEVs alongside 15 hybrids and two plug-in hybrids. Sales of Toyota's plug-in hybrids have been rising as more dealers offer them, the company says.

On the research front, Toyota is working with Kyoto University on fluoride-ion batteries, a partnership that began in 2020. The technology promises energy densities up to seven times greater than typical lithium-ion cells. The battery's anode uses fluorine, copper, and cobalt, and its electrolyte is water-based. Fluorine is the 13th most common element in Earth's crust, which could make the chemistry more sustainable.

To speed up development, the Toyota Research Institute is collaborating with Johns Hopkins University to apply high-speed AI to fluoride-ion battery research. The AI-enabled tests are expected to take three to four minutes per experiment, compared with about ten minutes conventionally. Yayuan Liu, who is involved in the project, noted the complexity of battery chemistry: "Battery chemistry is extremely complicated. A change in one property can influence several others, so understanding those relationships is very difficult." Amanda Volk added, "Our goal is to move beyond predicting which formulations work to understanding why they work by identifying causal relationships and mechanistic pathways that connect electrolyte chemistry to performance." Kevin Tran said, "We all know correlation is not causation. But what if we could break down this barrier? Our team is trying to see how far we can push causal reasoning to close the gap between materials research and device development."

In manufacturing, LG Energy Solution began production at its Lansing, Michigan campus on August 18, 2026. The plant will produce nickel-manganese-cobalt EV battery cells for Toyota, which will power the 2027 Toyota Highlander EV assembled at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky in Georgetown, Kentucky.