Mazda to spend $16b on electric vehicle and battery production strategy
Mazda has also raised its electric vehicle sales target to 40% of total global sales by the end of the decade.
Japan’s Mazda Motor Corporation has unveiled plans to spend 1.5 trillion yen (A$15.95 billion) by 2030 to address the transition to electric vehicles (EVs), adding that it will also consider investing in battery production.
The strategy will be helped along by new joint ventures MHHO Electric Drive to develop electric drive units, Mazda Imasen Electric Drive to develop inverters, and MCF Electric Drive to develop EV motors.
The motor giant has also raised its EV sales target to 40% of total global sales by the end of the decade, joining a worldwide push by the automotive industry to ramp up electrification efforts in the face of tougher environmental regulations introduced by the European Union (EU).
Revised emissions target
The EU’s automotive industry last year committed to cutting overall carbon emissions by 55% (up from the current 40%) by 2030.
The revised target insists that new cars released from this date be built with battery electric powertrains to help the region attain carbon neutrality by 2050.
It means automakers need to step up the pace of their EV production strategies.
The Netherlands, Sweden, Iceland, Ireland, the United Kingdom and Denmark are among the countries which have already committed to the new regulations, banning the sale of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles by 2030.
Three-phased roadmap
Mazda chief executive officer Akira Marumoto revealed the company had a three-phase roadmap to “fully-fledged electrification”.
Phase one — from now until 2024 — will see it strengthen its technology through research and development in preparation for electrification while putting the business on a growth path and strengthening its financial base to “enable us to deal with another economic crisis like the coronavirus pandemic, with cash on hand”.
He said the latter half of phase two — or between 2025 and 2027 — will see the company commence the introduction of new battery and EV models.
Mazda has teamed up with Chinese-owned auto battery manufacturer Envision AESC Group to secure batteries and increase EV production during this period at its plants in Japan.
Phase three will see the full-scale launch of fully electric vehicles, currently slated for between 2028 and 2030.
Mr Marumoto did not announce a detailed investment timeline, saying it will depend on how fast EVs became popular.
EV-related projects
Mazda confirmed it has agreed to multiple partnerships with Japanese companies on EV-related research projects designed to stimulate the local economy and contribute to the development of local industry and innovation.
One of the projects is with Rohm Co and Imasen Electric Industrial for the development of inverters containing silicon-carbide power semiconductors, which are the core parts of an electric drive unit.
Imasen is also involved in a separate 50:50 collaboration with Mazda to develop inverters and production technology for components such as circuit boards.
Another initiative known as MHHO Electric Drive brings together suppliers Ondo Corporation, Hiroshima Aluminum Industry and Hirotec Corporation to develop high-efficiency motor production technology.
Rounding out the partnerships is MCF Electric Drive which will see Mazda, Fukuta Electric & Machinery and Chuo Kaseihin work together on the development of new motor technologies.
Mazda said the partnerships will allow for the development of “compact, high-performance electric drive units which can achieve high levels of efficiency”.
Big battery moves
Mazda’s EV investment follows car companies such as Toyota Motor Corporation which have announced a series of big moves relating to EVs and batteries.
In August, Toyota said it will invest up to $7.94 billion across Japan and the US to make batteries for fully electric vehicles.
At the same time, rival company Honda Motor Company said it will work with Korean battery supplier LG Energy Solution to build a $6.63 billion lithium-ion battery plant for electric vehicles in the United States.