Stellantis and LG Energy Solution are investing $5 billion CAD (A$5.3 billion) in an electric vehicle battery factory that’ll be Canada’s first.
Construction will start later this year at Windsor, Ontario, with production of lithium-ion battery cells and modules slated to begin in the first quarter of 2024.
The companies are aiming to have an annual production capacity in excess of 45 gigawatt hours (GWh), and for the plant to serve as “catalyst for the establishment of a strong battery supply chain in the region”.
“Our joint venture with LG Energy Solution is yet another stepping stone to achieving our aggressive electrification roadmap in the region aimed at hitting 50% of battery electric vehicle sales in the US and Canada by the end of the decade,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.
Stellantis plans to produce five million electric vehicles annually by 2030.
Its passenger car line-up will be EV-only by 2030 in Europe, and it expects EVs to account for 50 per cent of its passenger car and light-duty trucks in North America.
Chrysler Airflow concept
It’s aiming to have five battery manufacturing plants plus additional supply contracts, with planned battery capacity of approximately 400 GWh.
Stellantis, the world’s fourth-largest automaker, is doubling down on electrification, with Fiat announcing it’s going all-electric in Europe by 2027.
This is on top of Alfa Romeo going all-electric worldwide by the same year, which was announced in August 2021. DS Automobiles and Lancia will become all-electric by 2024.
2024 Ram 1500 BEV
Across its 14 brands, it’s planning to roll out a range of new architectures. These comprise:
- STLA Small, with electric range up to 500km
- STLA Medium, with electric range up to 700km
- STLA Large, with electric range up to 800km
- STLA Frame, with electric range up to 800km
Stellantis says it can produce up to two million vehicles per year on each platform, and each platform will be highly flexible in terms of length and width, as well as support fast-charging of up to 32km per minute.
Choosing Ontario for its latest battery facility makes a lot of sense for Stellantis, as it’s already the Canadian province most densely populated with automotive production facilities.
STLA Large concepts
Windsor alone is home to a Stellantis factory, which produces the Chrysler Pacifica and Voyager/Grand Caravan people movers.
Over in Brampton, Stellantis produces the Dodge Challenger and Charger and Chrysler 300, while Ford, General Motors, Honda and Toyota also build cars in the province.
With this latest announcement, LG Energy Solution alone has now secured over 200 GWh of production capacity in North America, which it says translates to 2.5 million “high performance” EVs annually.
It supplies batteries for, among other companies, General Motors, Tesla and Volkswagen.
