South Korea-based LG Energy Solution Ltd. announced plans to invest $1.5 billion into a joint venture with Stellantis.
Stellantis is serious about EVs, and the company is setting up a joint venture with LG Energy Solution in Ontario, Canada to make it happen. Ultimately, this new battery plant is one element to achieving carbon-neutral manufacturing by 2038, and a 50% reduction in CO2 output by 2030. They are working with LG and Automotive Cells Company (ACC), among others, to develop battery and technology.
Back in October 2021, Stellantis and LGES announced they aim to have an annual production capacity of 45 gigawatt-hours of batteries by the first quarter of 2024. We know that this joint venture will land in Canada. The location of the site has yet to be announced. LGES already works with General Motors, Tesla and Volkswagen battery electric vehicles, but this announcement is solely with Stellantis. LGES will own 51 percent of the joint venture, and Stellantis owns 49 percent, according to the companies’ filings.
At the moment, the joint venture’s planned name is “LGES-STLA JV”.
LG Energy Solution, headquartered in Seoul, has battery production facilities in the US, China, Poland and Indonesia. This new plant will operate in Windsor, outside Toronto, and will break ground later this year. Operations will launch in the first quarter of 2024, Stellantis says.
Stellantis is working with others as well
Beyond the LG deal, the automaker engages in separate joint ventures with Automotive Cells Company (ACC), Mercedes-Benz and TotalEnergies. The group plans to build a battery plant in Italy. According to Automotive News, ACC will convert an existing Stellantis plant in Termoli, Italy into a battery facility. This agreement was noted in a March 21 memorandum of understanding with Italian authorities.
The memorandum did not provide many specifics, but it did say that March 11 the goal was to produce batteries for more than 2.5 million vehicles annually by 2030.
