Stellantis potentially will build one or two more lithium-ion EV battery plants in North America by 2030, on top of two already contracted.
The company's North American COO Mark Stewart said at a Reuters Events auto conference in Detroit that a total of four gigafactories might be needed by the end of this decade to support mass electrification. That's in addition to a few plants in Europe (three plants - in France, Germany and Italy under the Automotive Cells Company JV).
Let's recall that Stellantis currently has two projects underway:
- Canada: a 45+ GWh/year battery joint venture with LG Energy Solution
- US (Indiana): a 23 GWh/year battery joint venture with Samsung SDI
The plant in Canada is expected to start production in the first quarter of 2024, while the plant in Indiana will start production in the first half of 2025.
The third North American battery gigafactory is expected to be needed in 2026/2027. This topic is currently being discussed and an official announcement will be made by Q2 2023, while the fourth plant is a possibility (by 2030).
"By quarter two, quarter three of '26, if the market continues on the path that it's on, we'll need the third plant online by late '26, early '27. We are already in discussions for plant No. 3 and possibly plant No. 4. We will need four plants by 2030."
It's not decided where the two additional plants would be built (US, Canada or Mexico) or who will be the partner.
As we can see, manufacturers are now preparing for even higher battery-electric car output than initially anticipated. At the Stellantis EV Day 2021, the company planned 3 plants globally by 2025 and 5+ plants by 2030. Now it seems that we are talking about 6-7 with an option for even more.
Part of the reason why Stellantis might be interested in more battery plants in North America is changes in the federal tax credit incentives, which promoted locally produced BEVs, with locally produced batteries.
