By Shivansh Tiwary and Paul Lienert
(Reuters) -Toyota Motor and LG Energy Solution signed a supply agreement for lithium-ion batteries for use in the Japanese automaker’s U.S.-built electric vehicles starting in 2025, the companies said on Wednesday.
LGES will invest $3 billion in its Michigan battery facility to supply Toyota exclusively.
LGES also is a partner with General Motors in the Ultium battery joint venture, which is building a separate $2.1 billion plant in Lansing, Michigan to supply GM’s electric vehicles.
The agreement with Toyota means LGES now will supply batteries to five top automakers, including Stellantis, Hyundai and Honda, from its jointly operated and wholly owned North American plants.
Toyota said in August 2022 that it planned to triple its investment to $3.8 billion in a new North Carolina battery plant it will operate with longtime partner Panasonic through the companies’ Prime Planet Energy & Solutions (PPES) joint venture. The plant is slated to open in 2025.
LGES will supply Toyota with 20 gigawatt-hours of high-nickel NCMA battery modules annually from the South Korean company’s Michigan facility.
The battery maker will establish new production lines in Michigan for pouch-type battery cells and modules for Toyota.
(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Cynthia Osterman)
