by Hyunju Jin and Hekyong Yango
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) – South Korea’s LG Energy Solutions plans to build a battery factory in Arizona to supply to Tesla and other customers, two persons familiar with the matter told Reuters.
The US factory is expected to produce cylindrical battery cells of various sizes for customers, including EV makers Lucid and Protera, and Philip Morris, maker of iQOS heated-tobacco sticks, one person said.
Another person said that startups like electric scooter makers will use batteries from the factory.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on Tuesday that battery production will be the “limiting factor” for vehicle production in two to three years, as the world’s largest electric vehicle maker aims to boost sales. He has called on suppliers to ramp up production, while Tesla itself has started making cells.
LG did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment outside of normal business hours. Tesla, Lucid, Proterra did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Philip Morris declined to comment.
Japan’s Panasonic Corp., one of Tesla’s suppliers, along with contemporary Amperex Technology Co., is looking to invest billions of dollars to build a factory to manufacture a new type of electric vehicle (EV) battery for Tesla Inc. Broadcaster NHK had earlier reported this. Month.
NHK reported that Panasonic is looking to build a factory in Oklahoma or Kansas, not far from Tesla’s new Texas auto plant.
Lucid’s CFO Sherry House, which has a car factory in Arizona, told Reuters last month that it had signed multi-year supply agreements with two battery suppliers, and that the agreement would include “some of the products coming from state-side cell lines.” capability.”
He did not identify the companies. Lucid Source batteries from LG and Samsung SDI.
LG, which raised more than $10 billion in its initial public offering in Korea in January, has announced the start of battery joint ventures with GM and Stelantis in the United States and Canada.
In August, US President Joe Biden signed an executive order aiming to make half of all new vehicles sold by 2030 electric.
(Reporting by Hyunju Jin and Hekyong Yang. Editing by Jane Merriman)
