Stellantis and Samsung SDI Agree to Build Second BEV Battery Facility in US.
The automotive industry is making the shift towards more electrified and all-electric model lineups while still offering some gasoline models while they last. This means a huge paradigm shift in how automakers do business, the concepts they develop, and how they approach the auto industry altogether. It also means planning for the models to come. With so much manpower and resources going towards manufacturing plants around the world for various models still available and in-demand, automakers are starting to invest in and construct new factories for upcoming battery-electric vehicle (BEV) models. In the last two years, Stellantis and Samsung SDI agreed to build not one but two BEV battery facility in US.
The first new BEV battery facility was announced in May 2022. Built in Kokomo, Indiana, there were great plans for the new facility, with a target goal of 23 gigawatt-hours (GWh) as its initial annual production capacity, with room to grow (now said to start off with 33 GWh). This followed the opening of the first large-scale, domestic, electric-vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Canada. In July 2023, Stellantis N.V. and Samsung SDI sign a memorandum to build on the currently existing StarPlus Energy joint venture. Aiming to begin the construction of the second plant in 2027, this would be two years after the Kokomo begins operation. The target goal for the second plant is an initial annual production capacity of 34 GWH. No location has yet been stated for the second facility.
“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…We are continuing to add more capacity in the United States together with our great partner Samsung SDI and laying the next steps to reaching our carbon neutrality commitment by 2038.” – Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares
Yeah, that goal of 25 new BEVs in North America is just a small chunk of the total lineup announced when Stellantis shared its Dare Forward 2030 business strategy. Over the course of the rest of the decade, by 2030, Stellantis aim to release more than 75 BEVs into its large lineup. Sales are expected to be 100-percent from passenger-car BEVs in the European market, and closer to 50-percent of passenger car and light-duty truck BEV sales in the United States. Probably the largest change is a commitment to expand into hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, specifically for large vans, with hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks expected to start appearing in the U.S. in 2025. Technology is also changing for the self-driving autonomous car industry, but that has its own pile of issues to deal with when winning an argument with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Another large goal for many automotive groups is to become a carbon net zero corporation. This means the business would produce zero CO2 emissions, via product and production. In other words, no CO2 exhaust for producing new vehicles, and all new vehicles will be BEVs or hydrogen-powered. The goal for that one is 2038. By 2030, the group has a commitment to reach 50-percent carbon emissions reduction by 2030, if not a state of carbon neutrality. That means for all the CO2 the facilities emit during production, the idea is that this is nullified by all of the new BEVs going on the road.
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