Toyota EV batteries, Nissan solid-state update, Ford charging: Today’s Car News

Nissan hopes to go without cooling systems for its solid-state batteries on the way later this decade. Ford bolsters the network of chargers its EV drivers can tap into. And Toyota lays down a lot of cash up front toward American EV production. This and more, here at EV kind of cars. 

Toyota gave a strong indication on Tuesday that it plans to ramp up U.S. plug-in hybrid production—if not EV production itself—with $8 billion of new battery production investment in North Carolina. That brings the total planned investment in the facility, which is due to focus initially on hybrid batteries, to $13.9 billion. 

With the addition of Francis Energy, Blink, and Red E, Ford has expanded its Blue Oval Charging Network by 25%, to a total of 106,000 chargers that are accessible through a unified interface that aggregates connectors on a range of networks. It also confirmed that Tesla Supercharger V4 hardware will be added to the interface—timing still TBA.

And Nissan is bullish on its own all-solid-state battery (ASSB) cells. It still sees the technology as being a potential game-changer for making big electric SUVs, pickups, and more viable—perhaps starting around 2028. And if all goes as planned, its solid-state EV batteries won’t need cooling. 

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