LG confirms 2 new battery plants for US, will invest $4.5B for production
More batteries will be built in the US with new plants coming online in the next four years.
LG has big plans.
LG Energy Solutions will make big investments in US battery production in the next four years, according to a company executive. Reuters reported Thursday the South Korean battery giant plans to build at least two new production plants in the US and will invest over $4.5 billion to make it happen. The news squares up with additional word from General Motors that it eyes a new battery plant in partnership with LG, and potentially Tesla, too. LG said the new plants may create 4,000 new jobs.
The company did not immediately return Roadshow's request for comment on the future plans, but Denise Gray, president of LG Energy Solution Michigan, said the company is "eager" to expand its production footprint here in the US and Europe to meet automakers' quickly growing demand when it comes to electric cars. In the next few months, LG said it will select final locations for the new battery plants.
We learned previously GM and LG may partner on one new battery plant in Tennessee, which would follow the a new plant in Ohio. Earlier this week, a report laid out the possibility of another new LG facility to support Tesla's upcoming "Biscuit Tin" battery cell design. The move could see LG supply batteries to Tesla for US-bound cars. Today, LG only supplies Teslas for sale in China, while Panasonic plops batteries in US-spec cars from the company.
The increased investment in domestic battery production comes as President Biden orders a short- and long-term review of the nation's supply chain when it comes to essential materials and products for technologies and EVs. While the order mostly focuses on the semiconductor chip constraints currently hitting industries, it also seeks to raise the US' competitiveness when it comes to building batteries at home, and looks to identify the resources needed to perhaps mine and refine materials here, too.
