Column: Toyota spent a bunch to build batteries. It could have spent more to make its own electricity

LIBERTY, N.C. — You need to stand on a hill to really appreciate the size and scale of the $13.9 billion battery manufacturing center Toyota is building here in rural central North Carolina. It's massive, and the impact it will have on the automaker's operations in the U.S. — including its ability to one day allow Toyota customers to qualify for federal electric vehicle tax credits — is hard to understate.