Plant will be first of its kind in Canada
Expected to product 45 GWh, 2,500 jobs
EV battery production is coming to Canada. Stellantis and LG Energy Solution have just announced a joint venture investment of more than $5b to bring the country its first large-scale lithium-ion battery production plant.
The new plant will be in Windsor, ON. The city shares a border with Detroit and is already home to a great deal of auto assembly and supplier production including the plant that builds the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV. More than 2,500 jobs are expected to be created when the plant is up and running, with a total annual capacity of more than 45 gigawatt-hours.
Building the facility is set to start later this year, and the two companies expect to begin battery production sometime in the first quarter of 2024. Stellantis has not said where the battery cells will go or in what vehicles they’ll be placed.
“Our joint venture with LG Energy Solution is yet another stepping stone to achieving our aggressive electrification road map in the region, aimed at hitting 50% of battery-electric vehicle sales in the U.S. and Canada by the end of the decade,” said Carlos Tavares, Stellantis CEO. “We are grateful to the municipal, provincial and federal levels of government for their support and commitment to help position Canada as a North American leader in the production of electric-vehicle batteries.”
Stellantis and LGES say that they expect the plant to begin a strong battery supply chain in the region. This could include using raw materials sourced and refined in Northern Ontario as well as imported materials.
