On Tuesday, Honda and LG Energy Solution confirmed details of a joint venture battery plant in Ohio that will produce battery modules for Honda EVs in the North American market starting in 2025.
Announced in 2022The joint venture plant will be located in Fayette County, about 40 miles southwest of Columbus and aim for an annual production capacity of 40 gigawatt-hours, Honda confirmed in a press release.
Honda and LG Energy Solution will commit to invest $4.4 billion in the joint venture, of which $3.5 billion will be invested in the plant itself. Construction is slated to begin in 2023, with completion expected in 2024 to begin mass production of bag-type lithium-ion batteries in 2025, according to Honda.
2020 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid
That timeline aligns with Honda’s plan to begin production and sales of electric vehicles in North America by 2026, based on its in-house design, dubbed “e: Architecture.” Honda already has an important manufacturing footprint in the United States, as well as R&D facilities that could support future electric vehicle development. It also announced a companion $700 million investment to renovate several existing plants in Ohio to produce electric vehicles.
However, Honda’s first mass-market EV in the US will be the Prologue SUV, based on General Motors’ Ultium battery technology. It is slated to launch in 2024 and is expected to be built in conjunction with Chevrolet Blazer EV In Mexico. Honda’s luxury car brand Acura will also get a car derived from Ultium ZDX SUV in 2024, with production expected to take place at GM’s Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, along with the Cadillac Lyriq.
2024 Honda Prologue
In 2027, Honda and GM plan to start selling affordable electric vehicles co-developed in North America. This is from both the Ultium-based Prologue/ZDX deal and Honda’s own designs.
While the announcement only mentions conventional lithium-ion battery chemistry, Honda is also working on it solid state batterythough they probably won’t be ready for use in production electric vehicles until the end of the decade, at the earliest.
These various efforts will contribute to Honda’s goal of phasing out all internal combustion engines in its global product line by 2040, phasing out both battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles. hydrogen.
