- Stellantis and LG Energy Solution will collaborate to build a lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant in North America, the automaker announced this morning.
- To build hybrid and electric vehicles in America, Toyota announced today that it will invest $3.4 billion in battery production. On a lithium-ion battery plant with Toyota Tsusho by 2025.
- Both moves show how seriously mainstream automakers are taking electric vehicles, following recent announcements from Ford and GM.
A North American plant for lithium-ion batteries will be built by Stellantis, the parent company of Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. The location was not disclosed, but the automaker said the project would begin in early 2024. The batteries will go into North American hybrid and electric vehicles. Stellantis has previously stated that by 2030, 40% of its US sales will be EVs, and has set aside $35 billion to achieve that goal. With the 2022 Grand Cherokee 4xe plug-in hybrid, Jeep has promised a zero-emission SUV in every SUV segment by 2025.
Separately, Toyota Motor North America announced it will invest $1.3 billion over nine years to build a US lithium-ion battery plant for hybrid and electric vehicles. Toyota says the plant will start up in 2025. The automaker previously announced plans to invest $13.5 billion globally in battery development and manufacturing by 2025. Toyota told Automotive News in September that it is already testing a "working prototype."
Despite being slower than some to embrace EVs, Toyota's press release today was titled "Toyota charges into an electrified future in the US." It plans to build "around 70" hybrid or electric vehicles by 2025, with 15 being fully electric.
Stellantis and Toyota's announcements follow Ford and GM's announcements of new EV production facilities in the US. For its part, Ford's Blue Oval City will produce batteries and electric vehicles in Tennessee, while Ion Park will develop batteries in Michigan. GM has two LG-GM battery plants in Ohio and Tennessee. The first should start producing batteries in late 2022.