Samsung SDI To Fund USD 2 Billion For Second Battery plant By CIOTechOutlook Team

Samsung SDI To Fund USD 2 Billion For Second Battery plant

CIOTechOutlook Team | Wednesday, 27 September 2023, 08:45 IST

Samsung SDI Co., South Korea's third-largest electric car battery producer, announced a $1.98 billion investment in a second battery plant in the United States in collaboration with the Netherlands-based automaker Stellantis N.V.The investment will give Samsung SDI a 51% interest in the new facility, according to a regulatory filing in Seoul by the Korean partner.

In July, Samsung SDI and Stellantis decided to develop a battery factory with an annual production capacity of 34 gigatonnes (GWh) in the United States, where they had already begun construction after establishing the US joint venture StarPlus Energy in October 2021. The location of the second battery factory has not been determined, although it is believed to be near their existing plant in Kokomo, Indiana.

They plan to start to break ground on the second US factory in April 2024 to commence its mass production in November 2027. Once the second battery plant is up and running, the JV’s total battery production capacity per year in the US will reach 67 GWh, enough to power more than 1 million electric vehicles, as per kedglobal.

The two firms have agreed to increase the overall capacity of the first battery manufacturing plant from 23 to 33 GWh. The first plant, which started construction last year, is scheduled to begin commercial production in the first quarter of 2025.

Stellantis, the world's fourth largest automaker formed by the merger of the Italian-American giant Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the French PSA Group, intends to provide at least 25 new battery-powered EV vehicles for the North American market by the end of the decade.