Japanese auto giant Honda and South Korean battery maker LG Energy Solutions on Monday announced a joint venture to invest $4.4 billion in a new electric vehicle battery plant in the United States.
The move comes after California ruled last week that all new cars sold in the United States’ most populous state must be zero-emissions from 2035, with other states following suit. It is expected.
In a joint statement, the two companies said they plan to begin construction of the plant next year, aiming to “mass-produce advanced lithium-ion battery cells by the end of 2025.”
The partnership “will be well-positioned to target the rapidly growing North American EV market by expanding local electric vehicle production and ensuring a timely supply of batteries.” The decision was made based on the common belief that
Last month, Japanese electronics giant and Tesla supplier Panasonic announced a $4 billion investment to build a new battery factory for electric vehicles in the United States.
Panasonic CEO Kazuo Tadanobu said the new plant, the company’s second battery business in the US, is “essential to meeting demand.”
Earlier this year, Honda said it plans to invest about $40 billion in electric vehicle technology over the next decade as it works to switch all sales away from conventional fuel vehicles.
By 2030, the company aims to launch 30 EV models, produce more than 2 million units a year, and have electric and fuel cell vehicles account for 100% of all sales by 2040.
The success of Elon Musk’s Tesla, built entirely on electric vehicles, and increasing government pressure to move away from internal-combustion-powered vehicles are driving traditional automakers to accelerate their shift to electric vehicles.
Washington’s governor has backed a similar move to California’s, and the EU is taking steps to ban the sale of petrol- or diesel-fueled vehicles, even hybrids, by 2035.
China hopes that by then at least half of its new cars will be electric, plug-in hybrids or hydrogen cars.
