Stellantis, LG Energy form US$4.1B battery joint venture in Canada
BNN Bloomberg
LG Energy Solution and Stellantis NV said they will invest more than US$4.1 billion in a joint venture to build a new electric-vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Canada.
LG Energy Solution and Stellantis NV said they will invest more than US$4.1 billion in a joint venture to build a new electric-vehicle battery plant in Windsor, Canada.
The 45 gigawatt-hour plant, which is expected to begin operations in 2025, will create 2,500 jobs and supply Stellantis’s assembly plant in Windsor and others across North America, the companies said in a statement Wednesday. The South Korean battery maker will invest about US$1.5 billion and own 51 per cent of the venture, it disclosed in a filing in Korea earlier Wednesday. Stellantis will control 49 per cent, the automaker said.
“Our joint venture with LG Energy Solution is yet another stepping stone to achieving our aggressive electrification road map in the region aimed at hitting 50 per cent of battery electric vehicle sales in the U.S. and Canada by the end of the decade,” Stellantis Chief Executive Officer Carlos Tavares said in the statement.
Competition among battery makers to ramp up capacity is intensifying in North America as auto manufacturers including General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co. electrify their fleets and President Joe Biden looks to encourage the technological shift. China’s Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. is said to be considering sites across North America for a massive US$5 billion plant, and Japan’s Panasonic Corp. is engaged in talks over the site for a new U.S. factory that would supply Tesla Inc.
As part of its electrification plan, Stellantis is developing five large factories across North America and Europe to produce 400 gigawatt-hours of capacity by 2030.
Stellantis announced last October it would create a joint venture with Korean battery maker Samsung SDI Co. to build a plant in the U.S. that will be operational by 2025, and eventually have 40 gigawatt hours of capacity.
