Honda Motor Co. announced today that it will build a $3.5 billion electric-vehicle battery plant in Ohio as a joint venture with South Korean batterymaker LG Energy Solution. The automaker will spend an additional $700 million on retooling existing engine and assembly plants for EV production.
To be located between Columbus and Dayton in Fayetteville, Ohio, the new plant is expected to employ at least 2,200 people in the production of advanced lithium-ion battery modules to power electric vehicles.
The announcement was made this morning at the Ohio statehouse with the governor and executives from both companies attending.
The existing plants set for retooling—in Marysville, East Liberty and Anna, Ohio—will employ an additional 300+ people, a Honda press release stated. The Anna Engine plant will manufacture the battery case, the Marysville plant will combine the case and the module on a subassembly line and both East Liberty and Marysville will install the battery units in EVs built on location.
Honda plans to start selling its EVs in North America in 2026. The automaker currently has no all-electric vehicles manufactured or sold in the U.S. An all-electric vehicle co-developed with General Motors, the Prologue, is scheduled to be on the market in the U.S. in 2024.
Honda’s has its U.S. headquarters in Marysville and employs close to 15,000 people in Ohio. Plans for construction of the Marysville plant were announced exactly 45 years today day, the Honda press release noted.
Construction on the Fayette County battery plant is expected to begin in early 2023 and completed by the end of 2024. Honda and the state of Ohio are currently negotiating government incentives for the project but did not share any specifics in the announcement today.
Honda announced in April it was considering creating a joint venture company for battery production, located near a planned electric vehicle manufacturing facility. LG also has a joint venture with General Motors, Ultium, with battery manufacturing facilities in Warren, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tennessee, and others planned.
The Honda/LG joint venture is planned to be completed by the end of 2022.
Honda recently announced a long-term strategy to phase out the combustion engine and manufacture 100% electric vehicles in North America by 2040.
Main photo: Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, American Honda Motor Co. Executive Vice President Bob Nelson and LG Senior Vice President Sukwon Choi at the joint venture announcement at the Ohio Statehouse.
