Stellantis and LG Energy Solution have named their battery JV company NextStar Energy. Danies Lee has been appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of the new company, which will establish Canada’s first large-scale lithium-ion battery production plant.
Stellantis and LG Energy Solution have committed to invest more than C$5bn (US$4.1bn) to establish automotive battery operations in Windsor, Ontario, with support from the municipal, provincial and federal levels of the Canadian government. The manufacturing facility is targeted to have an annual production capacity in excess of 45 gigawatt-hours (GWh) and will create an estimated 2,500 new jobs in Windsor and the surrounding areas. Plant construction activities are expected to begin later this year with production operations planned to launch in the first quarter of 2024.
“I am extremely humbled by this appointment and look forward to putting in place the senior leadership team of NextStar Energy who will help me achieve our vision of producing leading-edge lithium-ion battery cells and modules to meet a significant portion of Stellantis’s vehicle production requirements in North America,” said Lee, CEO NextStar Energy.
NextStar Energy will play an important role in the Stellantis Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, which aims to have more than 50% BEV sales in the USA by the end of the decade.