Carlos Tavares, chief executive of Stellantis, hopes the automotive industry will face massive battery and raw material shortages in the coming years, but believes a new plant in Indiana will help the company overcome some of the problems.
Speaking recently, Dr. Auto NewsTavares said that due to increased demand for electric vehicles, there could be a shortage of batteries by 2024 or 2025 and a shortage of raw materials to use EVs in 2027 or 2028. This is partly due to the lack of relative facilities for the building. EV battery.
Sam Fiorani, Global Vehicle Forecasting, vice president of auto-forecast solutions, said of the problem, “The issue is that there is a lack of facilities designed to excavate and then refine lithium.” “Environmental regulations, permits and facility construction all conspire to prolong the time required to set up new lithium mining and refining facilities. Neodymium and other rare earth magnets are concentrated in geographic regions and countries where politics interferes with the supply. “
Read more: Stalantis sees India as a significant growth market
The key to Stalantis’ plan will be to build a battery plant in Indiana that will be established with Samsung SDI. Samsung will use its PRIMX technology to build cells and modules for various Stalantis EVs in North America. More than $ 2.5 billion is being invested in the project, and once the facility is completed, it is expected to create 1,400 jobs.
According to Tavares, the battery cell production process at this site will be “very clean” and “very sophisticated.”
“It’s a very precise tool,” Tavares said. “It’s very different from what we use in the automotive world, so it’s really a step in terms of technology, process engineering, materials, cleanliness, equipment.”
Indiana has pledged ার 186.5 million in conditional tax credits, training grants and investments to Stellantis and Samsung. The site is expected to open in 2025 and its initial annual production capacity will be 23 GWh, although the two companies expect it to increase to 33 GWh in a few years.
