South Korea’s leading electric vehicle battery manufacturer LG Energy Solution announced it would invest KRW5trn (US$4.4bn) by 2025 to expand its US manufacturing operations to meet growing demand, according to local reports.
The company, spun off into a separate entity in December 2020, remains a wholly-owned subsidiary of LG Chem. It plans to expand its US battery production capacity to 75 gigawatt hours (GWh) by 2025, creating 10,000 jobs directly and 6,000 additional jobs among its subcontractors.
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The company currently has an EV lithium-ion battery facility in Michigan and a second plant, in a joint venture with General Motors, is scheduled to be completed in Ohio in the first half of 2022.
LG Energy Solution’s global EV battery manufacturing network also includes a plant in each of South Korea and Poland and two in China with total production capacity of 120 gigawatt hours – enough for 2m electric vehicles.
LG Energy Solution expects EV demand in the US to grow rapidly following the new administration’s Green New Deal initiative. Leading US automakers including GM and Ford plan to switch their vehicle ranges entirely to electric powertrains by 2035 in line with the new administration’s policies. GM has set a milestone of launching 30 new EV models by 2025.
LG Energy Solution CEO Kim Jong-hyun said in a statement: “The goals of the US president and automakers will be a propelling factor in the growth of the country’s electric vehicle and energy storage systems markets. Our company is dedicated to expanding its battery production capacity and structuring a stable, localised supply chain that provides everything from R&D to production.”
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