South Korean Samsung SDI has now confirmed plans to build a US$2.5bn plant to manufacture electric vehicle (EV) battery cells and modules in Kokomo in the US state of Indiana in a joint venture with Stellantis, as Just Auto first reported yesterday before the official confirmation.
The announcement was made at an event attended by Indiana governor Eric Holcomb, Kokomo mayor Tyler Moore, Samsung SDI president and CEO Yoonho Choi and Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.
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The JV would begin construction of the plant by the end of 2022 with commercial production scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2025, creating 1,400 jobs.
The facility would have an initial annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt hours (GWh) of battery cells and modules which Stellantis expected would rise to 33GWh in the following few years as total investments rise to US$3.1bn.
Indiana would become an electric powertrain manufacturing hub for Stellantis which already has a transmission plant in Kokomo.
The plant would produce batteries under the Samsung SDI PRiMX brand which were launched at the end of last year and displayed at CES in Las Vegas last January.
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By GlobalDataChoi said in a statement: “We have secured a solid foothold in a rapidly growing North American EV market through the joint venture with Stellantis.”
Tavares said: “Just under one year ago, we committed to an aggressive electrification strategy anchored by five gigafactories between Europe and North America. Today’s announcement further solidifies our global battery production footprint.”
Under its so called Dare Forward 2030 plan, Stellantis is targeting battery electric vehicle (BEV) sales to reach five million units annually by 2030, including all of its new passenger car sales in Europe and 50% of its passenger car and light duty truck sales in North America.
The automaker said it planned to have 400 GWh in annual battery production capacity available to it by 2030, split between five battery manufacturing plants globally and from outsourcing contracts.
