Stellantis, Samsung SDI pick Indiana for second joint EV battery plant

Stellantis and South Korea's Samsung SDI Co. said on Wednesday that they picked Indiana to build their second joint EV battery plant.

The $3.2 billion StarPlus Energy JV plant will be co-located in Kokomo, Ind., next to the first battery plant under construction. The companies expect to create 1,400 jobs at the second site and will begin production in 2027.

With their second joint battery factory, the two companies would have a combined annual production capacity of 67 gigawatt hours at the Indiana production site, Samsung SDI said in a statement. The first joint plant is set to start production in the first quarter of 2025, and the second joint plant targets a start in early 2027.

The total investment for both plants will be more than $6.3 billion, creating 2,800 total new jobs, Stellantis said in a statement.

Last month, Samsung SDI said it plans to invest $2.01 billion to build its second joint battery plant with Stellantis, but the plant's location was still under review at the time.

Stellantis, whose brands include Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Citroen and Opel, has announced plans to reach 100 percent electric passenger car sales in Europe and 50 percent car and light truck electric mix in the U.S. by 2030. To achieve that, it has said it wants to secure about 400 GWh of battery capacity.

“Our battery ecosystem is the foundation of our electrification strategy and our great partners Samsung SDI, the State of Indiana, and the City of Kokomo have created a compelling case for locating our sixth gigafactory in Kokomo,” Stellantis North America COO Mark Stewart said in a statement. “The BEVs coming to our North America brands play an important role in our drive to offer clean, safe and affordable mobility for all and achieve the bold goal of carbon net zero by 2038.”

“Through construction of the second battery plant of StarPlus Energy, Samsung SDI will be establishing its largest production base for electric vehicle batteries in North America,” said Yoon-ho Choi, CEO of Samsung SDI. “We expect Stellantis brand vehicles powered by Samsung SDI batteries featuring supreme technologies to contribute to accelerating the U.S. transition to an era of electric vehicles.”

Reuters and Philip Nussel of Automotive News contributed to this report.