- The U.S. Department of Energy this week confirmed that it has offered a conditional loan, worth $7.54 billion, to Starplus Energy: the EV battery joint venture between Stellantis and Samsung SDI.
- The loan is designed to support the construction of two lithium-ion EV battery plants, in the state of Indiana.
- The batteries produced at both plants will be destined for Stellantis EVs sold in North America, and also comes as Stellantis EVs are set to start being built within North America.
Starplus Energy granted $7.54bn conditional loan
Under the Starplus Energy joint venture, which was launched between the two firms back in 2021, the first factory is already expected to come online in 2025, with an annual battery production capacity of 33 GWh. The second facility, also being built in the same state, is expected to start production in 2027 and have an initial annual production capacity of 34GWh.
Stellantis is not the only OEM that Samsung SDI has partnered up with to create EV battery factories. In a separate deal with General Motors, the battery firm will launch another EV battery gigafactory by 2027.
The move comes just days after the U.S. Department of Energy had granted another significant loan for the EV sector, with a conditional $6.6 billion loan offered to Rivian to assist in the construction of a new EV plant in the U.S. state of Georgia. Earlier last month, it also committed a $475 million loan to EV battery recycling specialists, Li-Cycle. With the significant number of loans being committed to just before the end of the Biden-Harris administration, there is a clear effort to support the clean energy industry as far as possible – ahead of uncertainty on what support Trump will offer the industry upon his inauguration next month.
