Yahoo Finance EV Roundup: STLA's $2.5B Battery Plant, GM-POSCO JV and More
The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is speeding up, with companies leaving no stone unturned to establish a strong foothold in this domain. Legacy automakers are stepping up e-mobility investment and setting ambitious targets to electrify their fleet. With batteries serving as the secret sauce for EVs, automakers are fast boosting their investments in battery production. Last week, auto biggie Stellantis STLA collaborated with Samsung SDI for a $2.5 billion battery plant in Indiana. Another legacy automaker General Motors GM joined forces with POSCO Chemical to establish a factory for the production of high-nickel cathode active materials required in EVs.
China’s EV company NIO, Inc. NIO announced plans to build lithium-ion battery labs and a cell pilot production line in Shanghai. Meanwhile, GreenPower Motor Company Inc. GP intends to bring its EVs to India and teamed up with Jupiter Wagon to execute its plan. Hyliion Holdings HYLN also made it to the top stories as it secured an order of 10 Hypertruck ERX units from Holcim US.
Last Week’s Top Stories
1. Stellantis announced that it has entered into a joint venture (JV) with Samsung SDI to establish a $2.5 billion battery manufacturing factory in Indiana. This announcement is part of the auto giant’s broader pledge to spend $35.5 billion on EVs and related technology through 2025.For Samsung, the plant in Indiana would mark its first battery development site in the United States.
Construction activities of the Indiana plant are slated to begin later this year and production operations are likely to begin from 2025. The factory will supply battery modules for a range of vehicles manufactured at Stellantis’ North American assembly plants. The battery facility would have an annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt hours (GWh), which would further increase to 33 GWh in the next couple of years. The total capacity could increase further depending on the demand for Stellantis’ EV models. The investment in the plant could rise to $3.1 billion gradually.
2. General Motors and POSCO Chemical formed their joint venture, Ultium CAM, to build a plant in Quebec, Canada for the production of high-nickel cathode active materials. General Motors will get its supply of the key EV component from POSCO, which will in turn gain a big push in its EV business. The project has an investment of $327 million earmarked. Per the contract, the plant will produce 30,000 tons of cathode active materials per year to be used by 220,000 EVs with an initial investment of $327 million. Construction is slated to begin in August and is expected to be completed by 2024.
Along with the joint venture, there will also be an eight-year contract per which high-nickel cathode-active materials manufactured at the Quebec site will be supplied to Ultium Cells, a battery joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution, from 2025. Both POSCO and General Motors are set for a long-run momentum in the EV space.
3. NIO plans to invest RMB 218.5 million ($32.8 million) to build lithium-ion battery labs and a cell pilot production line in Shanghai. The plan consists of a research & development (R&D) project in Anting town, Shanghai, comprising 31 R&D labs partaking in lithium-ion cell and battery pack research and development, a lithium-ion cell pilot line and a battery pack production line. The labs will have the potential to explore the resilience of the charge and discharge, temperature and safety performances of lithium-ion cells and packs under varied physical experimental conditions.
The projects are expected to begin between August and October this year. NIO looks to lease a sprawling, local industrial building for the same. NIO will test the prospect of the cell material properties and battery pack in optimized conditions and is expected to have 400 R&D personnel. The pilot project will be engaged in the trial production of lithium-ion cells and battery packs, forming the basis of future large-scale production exploration and trial samples for further research.
4. Hyliion Holdings, a reputed player in electrified powertrain solutions for Class 8 semi-trucks, announced that Holcim US placed an order of 10 Hypertruck ERX units, backed by deposits to secure Hypertruck ERX production slots. Holcim, a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions, specializes in low-carbon construction. It looks to leverage the Hyliion technology in its Texas and Oklahoma operations, where the Hypertruck ERX units will substitute diesel-fueled trucks.
Holcim placed the order after a visit to Hyliion’s headquarters, which gave the company an in-depth understanding of how the Hypertruck ERX could facilitate a reduction in the transportation carbon footprint. Hyliion and Holcim share the common goal of transforming the transportation space through the initiative. Hyliion’s mission is to facilitate major change in Commercial trucking, which is known to be a potential contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Hyliion intends to mitigate the problem with the Hypertruck ERX — a solution that enables sustainable fleets without compromising on business.
5. GreenPower has entered into a joint venture with Jupiter Wagon Group through its wholly-owned subsidiary, EA Green-Power Pvt Ltd. It intends to bring prime GreenPower EVs to India’s market, which has untapped potential.The partnership seeks to launch GreenPower’s EV Star CC, a model that has already gained popularity in the North American market.
Zero-emission, battery-electric platforms are the need of the hour in India to provide a clean air solution and a cost-effective way to allow transportation of people and goods. GreenPower’s EV Star CC has the potential to accommodate a wide range of mid and last-mile delivery needs while offering the benefits of a zero-emission vehicle. The collaboration aims to establish the mastery of GreenPower in the EV space and showcase the manufacturing and distribution strength of Jupiter.
GreenPower currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Price Performance
The following table shows the price movement of some of the major EV players over the last week and six-month period.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
What’s Next in the Space?
Stay tuned for announcements of upcoming EV models and any important updates from the red-hot industry.
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