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| Lee Hyuk-jae, fifth from left, CEO of a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and Honda, Kim Dong-myung, center, president of LG Energy Solution, Toshihiro Mibe, fifth from right, CEO of Honda, and Mike DeWine, fourth from right, governor of Ohio, pose during a groundbreaking ceremony of the joint venture's battery plant in Fayette County, Ohio, Tuesday (local time). Courtesy of LG Energy Solution |
By Baek Byung-yeul
A joint venture between Korean battery maker, LG Energy Solution, and Japanese auto giant, Honda, held a groundbreaking ceremony for its electric vehicle (EV) battery-manufacturing plant in the U.S. state of Ohio, the battery company said Wednesday.
The joint venture, tentatively named L-H Battery Company, is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2024 and begin mass-producing batteries, which will be supplied only to Honda's plants in North America, from the end of 2025. The factory, which was built with an overall investment of $4.4 billion, will have an annual production capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours, LG said.
"It is an honor to represent two great corporations, Honda and LG Energy Solution, both with a long, proud history of success. LG Energy Solution is the leading battery manufacturer globally and is investing aggressively to meet demand for electrification. We are excited to embark on this partnership with Honda, a leader in the global auto industry with a reputation for quality and reliability," Lee Hyuk-jae, CEO of the joint venture, said.
"If we harness these strengths, I have no doubt our joint venture will be the most successful battery plant in the world, and we look forward to being a part of this massive transformation toward sustainability," Lee added.
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| Lee Hyuk-jae, left, CEO of a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and Honda, and Rick Riggle, chief operating officer, pose with a concept image of the joint venture's battery-manufacturing plant during the plant's groundbreaking ceremony, in Fayette County, Ohio, Tuesday (local time). Courtesy of LG Energy Solution |
The joint venture has gained attention as this is the first example of joining forces between a Korean battery maker and a Japanese carmaker.
Last August, the two sides decided to set up a joint venture as both companies thought they need to expand the supply of EVs and EV batteries in the North American region where demands for electric cars are increasing.
The two companies announced the location of the new factory in October and the joint venture was formally established in January.
On the sideline of establishing the joint venture, Honda also announced it would invest $700 million to re-tool its existing auto and powertrain plants in Ohio for production of EVs, which will use batteries made from the joint venture. Based on its own EV platform e:Architecture, the Japanese company plans to begin production and sales of its EVs in North America in 2026.
"This is the first and the largest project with Honda in LG Group's history. It has a special meaning for both companies in terms of producing batteries for Honda's first-generation EV platform," Kim Dong-myung, president of LG Energy Solution, said.
LG Energy Solution also has been working on its battery production capacity to take the lead in the fast-growing EV battery market. Currently, the top battery maker has an annual production capacity of 200 gigawatt-hours and will expand the capacity to 300 gigawatt-hours by the end of 2023.
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