Samsung SDI said that it plans to invest 2.7 trillion won to jointly build a second electric vehicle manufacturer in the United States with Dutch automaker Stellantis NV. Battery factory, Samsung SDI will own 51% of the new factory.
Samsung SDI and Stellantis agreed in July this year to build an additional battery factory in the United States with an annual production capacity of 34GWh. This is the first battery factory since the two parties established the US joint venture StarPlus Energy in October 2021.
According to sources, they have not yet decided on the location of the second battery factory, but it is expected to be built near the first factory in Kokomo, Indiana. The plant is scheduled to break ground in April 2024 and begin full-scale production in November 2027.
Once Shuangfa’s second battery factory is completed and put into operation, its joint venture StarPlus Energy’s total annual battery production capacity in the United States will reach 67 GWh, enough to power more than 1 million electric vehicles.
Additionally, the two companies have agreed to increase the total capacity of the first battery manufacturing plant from 23 GWh to 33 GWh. Construction of the first plant began last year and commercial production is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2025.
Samsung SDI, which has been seeking to tap into the U.S. EV battery market by partnering with automakers, announced in June that it had agreed to build an EV battery factory with General Motors Co. in New Carlisle, Indiana, with the goal of starting operations in 2026. Their goal is for the plant to produce more than 30 GWh of batteries per year, enough to power more than 350,000 electric vehicles. In April this year, the two sides also agreed to set up a joint venture in the United States to produce nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical batteries, with a total investment of $3 billion.
Samsung SDI and rivals LG Energy Solution Ltd. and SK On Co. are racing to build battery factories in the United States in response to the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which provides buyers of electric vehicles assembled in North America with up to $7500 tax credit. To qualify for the tax break, 40 percent of the value of critical minerals for car batteries must come from the United States or a country that has a free trade agreement with the world’s top economy.
