- Toyota’s car factory in Kentucky is now partly powered by solar energy.
- A new solar field spanning 30 acres is expected to generate about 15 million kilowatt-hours of energy every year.
- The Georgetown plant is Toyota’s largest, and it’s where its first U.S.-made EV will be made starting next year.
Toyota is kicking its environmental game into high gear. The Japanese automaker’s largest factory, located in Georgetown, Kentucky, just flicked the “ON” switch to a huge solar plant that will supply the car-making facility with clean energy for the following years.
The nearly 30-acre solar field is expected to generate roughly 15 million kilowatt-hours of energy every year, enough to power 1,400 average U.S. homes for a year. That’s a neat little comparison, and it makes a good point about how much energy is needed to run a car factory.
Photo by: Toyota
In this case, we’re talking about a plant that employs nearly 10,000 people who help make two of the best-selling cars in the U.S.: the Camry Hybrid, which has been America’s best-selling passenger car for 22 consecutive years, and the RAV4 Hybrid, America’s best-selling SUV for eight years straight.
The Lexus ES350 is also made in Kentucky, but the luxury sedan’s American-made branding will disappear soon, as the company will shift production to Japan for the model’s next generation, making way for Toyota’s first U.S.-made electric SUVs.
Set to roll off the assembly line starting next year, the three-row EV is expected to bear some resemblance to the Land Cruiser Se concept from 2023. A second, smaller electric crossover will join the ranks shortly after, with one report claiming it will have something in common with the wildly popular RAV4 crossover.
A solar plant is good any day of the week, but its importance is even greater when the cars that roll off the assembly line can be recharged with energy from the sun. This way, there’s no need for on-site gas stations and fewer nasty gases make their way into the atmosphere.
“This project reflects our values and our commitment to being a good citizen,” said Chad Miller, vice president of manufacturing at Toyota Kentucky. “At Toyota, we believe in building more than just vehicles; we’re building a future. This solar installation is a powerful example of how we have aligned operations with our goals to reduce Toyota’s overall environmental footprint.”
The new solar plant in Kentucky is part of Toyota’s broader environmental strategy, which aims to make all its manufacturing facilities carbon neutral by 2035.
