Stellantis N.V. and Samsung SDI announced May 24 they have formally agreed to establish an electric-vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Kokomo, Indiana.

Targeted to start in 2025, the plant aims for an initial annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt-hours (GWh), with plans to increase to 33 GWh in the next few years. The total capacity would increase further as demand for Stellantis electric vehicles is expected to rise.

The new facility will supply battery modules for a range of vehicles produced at Stellantis' North America assembly plants. Plant construction activities are scheduled to begin later this year with production operations planned to launch in the first quarter of 2025.

The joint venture company will invest more than $2.5 billion and create 1,400 new jobs in Kokomo and the surrounding areas. The investment could gradually increase up to $3.1 billion.

"Just under one year ago, we committed to an aggressive electrification strategy anchored by five gigafactories between Europe and North America," said Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, in a news release. "Today's announcement further solidifies our global battery production footprint and demonstrates Stellantis' drive toward a decarbonized future as outlined in Dare Forward 2030."

Yoon-Ho Choi, CEO of Samsung SDI, added, "We have secured a solid foothold in a rapidly growing North America EV market through the joint venture with Stellantis. We will make sincere efforts to bring satisfaction to the market with top-class quality products in the future, and we will contribute toward meeting the climate change target."

At the Indiana factory, Samsung SDI will be apply its cutting-edge technology PRiMX to produce EV battery cells and modules for the North America market. Last year, Samsung launched its premium battery technology brand PRiMX as an industry first and unveiled the brand at CES 2022 in January.

As part of the Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, Stellantis announced plans to have global annual battery-electric vehicle sales of five million vehicles by 2030, reaching 100% of passenger car BEV sales mix in Europe and 50% passenger car and light-duty truck BEV sales mix in North America.

Stellantis also increased planned battery capacity by 140 GWh to about 400 GWh, to be supported by five battery manufacturing plants together with additional supply contracts. This announcement is part of the long-term electrification strategy to invest $35 billion through 2025 in electrification and software globally.

The closing is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals.