Korean companies LG Energy and Hyundai Motor will jointly build a US$4.3 billion EV battery plant in the US. Each of the companies will own a 50 percent stake in the joint venture, which will begin construction of the new plant in the second half of 2023.
Image Source: LG Energy Solution
The new manufacturing facility will be located in Georgia, where Hyundai is also building its first green car manufacturing plant in the US. The battery plant is expected to start operating no earlier than 2025. Once fully operational, it will be able to produce batteries with a total capacity of 30 GWh annually, enough to produce 300,000 electric vehicles.
LG and Hyundai are far from the only companies to have invested in US battery manufacturing facilities over the past couple of years. Toyota announced in 2021 that it will build a battery manufacturing plant in the country as part of a $3.4 billion investment, and Ultium Cells (a joint venture between GM and LG) received a $2.5 billion loan from the Department of Energy to build battery plants. production of batteries for electric vehicles. Most recently, Ford announced that it will spend $3.5 billion to build a lithium iron phosphate (LiFePO4) battery plant in Michigan.
Other companies may follow suit as the US government pushes to move electric vehicle and battery production to the country. Last year, it launched the American Battery Materials Initiative, which will see 20 companies receive $2.8 billion in grants in hopes of encouraging manufacturers to start making batteries in the US and avoid heavy reliance on “unreliable overseas supply chains.”
Hyundai and LG believe the new venture will help create “a stable battery supply in the region” and allow them to “quickly respond to the growing demand for electric vehicles in the US market.” Hyundai Mobis, the automaker’s parts and services division, will assemble batteries using cells produced at the plant. The automaker will then use these blocks for Hyundai, Kia and Genesis electric vehicles.
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