L-H Battery Company, a US-based joint venture between South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solution and Japanese automaker Honda Motor, has begun mass production of batteries for energy storage systems (ESS) at its plant in Jeffersonville, Ohio.

The 50:50 joint venture was established at the beginning of 2023 to produce lithium-ion batteries mainly for Honda and Acura battery electric vehicles (BEVs) sold in North America. The withdrawal of US policy support for BEVs last year by the Trump administration, including the discontinuation last September of purchase incentives introduced by the previous Biden administration, has significantly reduced BEV demand in the US – prompting Honda to cancel its North American EV programme.

Like many other automakers operating in the US, Honda announced huge impairment/write-off charges earlier this year, totaling JPY 2.5 trillion (US$ 15.7 billion), relating to the shelving of its North American BEV programme, including its planned 0-Series SUVs and sedans and the Acura RSX EV.

Since then, L-H Battery has signed an agreement to supply lithium-ion battery cells to support the US power grid, including for commercial, industrial and residential ESS applications. The batteries will be supplied through LG Energy Solution Vertech, LGES’s North American ESS systems integration subsidiary.

L-H Battery confirmed that it will maintain a flexible production portfolio at its Ohio plant by producing batteries for hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs) alongside ESS batteries. The company’s CEO, Koo Cha-hoon, said in a statement: "ESS is one of L-H Battery's key future growth businesses and, together with hybrid EV battery cell production, will become one of the company's core business pillars.”