LGES to build battery plant in Arizona
LG Energy Solution (LGES) has announced another battery factory in North America. The production facility for the manufacture of cylindrical battery cells for use in electric vehicles is to be built in Queen Creek in the US state of Arizona. LG is investing 1.7 trillion won (about 1.3 billion euros) for it.
The announced plant will be the first cylindrical battery factory in North America in which the Korean battery manufacturer is investing alone. Construction of the factory, with a planned annual capacity of 11 GWh, is scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2022, with mass production beginning in the second half of 2024.
The factory is to use “a state-of-the-art smart factory system boasting remote support, manufacturing intelligence, logistics automation and more”. With the new production facility, LGES aims to meet the growing demand for cylindrical batteries in the North American market. New EV start-ups using cylindrical batteries are on the rise in the region, he said. “With the establishment of our new Arizona plant, LG Energy Solution aims to deliver unparalleled consumer value in the rapidly growing cylindrical battery market,” said Youngsoo Kwon, CEO of LG Energy Solution.
The batteries produced there will be supplied to electric vehicle manufacturers. The South Korean company did not name names, saying only that they are “well-known start-up companies and manufacturers of power tools based in North America”.
LGES already operates a battery plant for electric vehicles in the US state of Michigan. The battery plant in Holland, Michigan, is the company’s first in the US and was built in 2010. Only recently the company announced plans to expand the plant. With investments amounting to 1.7 billion US dollars, the production capacity for battery cells and battery packs is to be increased fivefold.
Together with Stellantis, LGES also reportedly wants to build a large production facility for electric vehicle batteries in Canada. A joint venture is to be set up for this purpose, which will manufacture battery cells and modules at the new factory in Windsor in the Canadian province of Ontario.
Earlier this year, there were reports on negotiations between Honda and LGES to build a battery factory for electric vehicles in the US with a production capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours per year. Honda USA would not comment on the information to Reuters news agency. LGES released a statement neither confirming nor denying the reports. “We are discussing various opportunities to work with automakers, including the formation of joint ventures, but nothing has been decided,” the battery maker said.
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