Stellantis & Samsung SDI To Build 2nd Battery Gigafactory In USA

We are leaving the oil & gas era and heading into the electric vehicle era, and the base of that new era is batteries, batteries, batteries. Stellantis and Samsung SDI are advancing their tokens in this new era with an announcement of a second US battery gigafactory.

Back in May of last year (2022), Stellantis and Samsung SDI announced their first joint battery gigafactory in the USA. That battery gigafactory is supposed to begin operations in the first quarter of 2025 in Kokomo, Indiana. It was initially supposed to have an annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt-hours (GWh), but that has now been increased to 33 GWh. But that’s not enough for Stellantis’ US electrification plans, and hence the news this week.

Using the same StarPlus Energy joint venture the companies formed for that first factory, Stellantis and Samsung SDI have just announced a second battery gigafactory. This one is planned for beginning of operations in 2027. The initial planned production capacity is 34 GWh. We don’t yet know where this second US gigafactory will be located. That hasn’t been decided yet.

Stellantis has a plan for its path to electrification called Dare Forward 2030. Included in this plan is a target to be selling 100% pure battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) in Europe by 2030 and 50% in the US by 2030. (Yes, the US target shows how far behind the US market is at the moment.) With those targets combined, Stellantis projects that it will need 400 GWh of annual battery capacity supply. The 67 GWh from these two US gigafactories would get it 17% of the way there.

“This new facility will contribute to reaching our aggressive target to offer at least 25 new battery electric vehicles for the North American market by the end of the decade,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares.

“By establishing the joint venture with Stellantis last year, we laid a solid groundwork for marking our presence in North America,” remarked Samsung SDI President and CEO Yoon-ho Choi. “The second plant will accelerate our market penetration into the US and help Stellantis push forward the US transition to an era of electric vehicles by supplying the products featuring the highest levels of safety and quality.”

Stellantis’ EV efforts certainly look much more serious with these battery gigafactory agreements and joint venture with Samsung SDI, long a leader in high-quality EV battery technology.

Image courtesy of Stellantis