Honda Motor, LG Energy to build EV battery plant in US
STORY: Japan's Honda Motor and South Korea's LG Energy Solution said on Monday that they're investing $4.4 billion in a joint venture to set up a new plant that will produce lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles in the United States.
The two companies said in a statement that the batteries will be supplied exclusively to Honda facilities in North America to power Honda and Acura EV models.
Battery makers are looking to increase production in the U.S. where a shift toward EVs is accelerating.
The U.S. government is pushing policies designed to bring more battery and EV manufacturing into the country.
President Joe Biden signed a $430 billion bill this month that would make EVs assembled outside North America ineligible for tax credits.
And California announced a plan last week requiring all new vehicles sold in the state by 2035 to be either electric or plug-in electric hybrids.
In July, Panasonic, a major Tesla supplier, said it had selected Kansas as the site for a new battery plant with investment of up to $4 billion.
The location of the Honda-LG plant has not been finalized but the Nikkei business daily reported the companies are considering Ohio, where Honda's main factory is located.
The start of construction is planned for early 2023 and mass-production by the end of 2025.
