Samsung SDI-Stellantis battery JV to be built in Indiana

Samsung SDI Co., a major South Korean battery maker, will build an electric vehicle battery plant in the US state of Indiana with Stellantis N.V. and plans to make the announcement this week, industry sources said Tuesday.

The announcement, reportedly set for Tuesday (US time), would come after the two companies said in October they were forming a joint venture to build what would be the first US battery cell plant for the South Korean battery maker.

An official from Samsung SDI declined to comment.

US President Joe Biden mentioned Samsung's plans for the new battery production facility when he toured Samsung Electronics Co.'s chip plant in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul, on Friday, during his visit to South Korea for a summit with President Yoon Suk-yeol.

Under the joint venture, Samsung SDI and the Chrysler parent agreed to work to start production in the first half of 2025, with an annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt hours (GWh) and aiming for 40 Gwh going forward.

The output from the new plant will be supplied to Stellantis' North America production lines and installed in the automaker's plug-in hybrid and EV lineups, the companies said earlier.

Samsung SDI has foreign operations in China, Hungary, Malaysia and Vietnam and runs a battery pack assembly line in the US state of Michigan. (Yonhap)