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LG Energy's Arizona battery plant to start mass production in first half of
2026
By
SARAH CHEA, Korea JoongAng Daily - LG Energy Solution’s $5.5 billion battery
plant in Queen Creek, Arizona, will start mass production of cylindrical
batteries in the first half of 2026 as the battery company ramps up its
capacity to cover orders from Tesla and Rivian.
“The
construction of the battery plant is well on track, with production set to
start in the spring of 2026,” Julia Wheatley, mayor of Queen Creek, told the
Korea JoongAng Daily on the sidelines of the InterBattery 2025 exhibition held
at Coex in southern Seoul on Wednesday.
“The
suspended lithium iron phosphate [LFP] battery plant will resume for sure as
confirmed by an LG Energy Solution executive just yesterday, though the
specific date is not set yet,” Wheatley added. “LG Energy also has an ESS
battery plant in Holland, Michigan, and they’re trying to balance the market,
but they are definitely proceeding with it.”
LG
Energy Solution announced in March 2023 that it would inject $5.5 billion to
build a 53 gigawatt-hour battery factory — enough to power some 600,000 EVs —
in Arizona, its second independent factory in the United States.
The
facility includes a battery line for the 46-series cylindrical batteries,
indicating a diameter of 46 millimeters (1.8 inches) that was first employed by
Tesla, with an annual capacity of 36 kilowatt-hours, along with a capacity of
17 kilowatt-hours for LFP batteries for energy storage systems (ESS).
Cylindrical
batteries are largely preferred by global automakers due to their price
competitiveness over pouch or prismatic-type batteries, as well as their
superior temperature control, which reduces the risk of fire.
LG's
46-millimeter cylindrical battery is said to have five times more energy
capacity and six times more density than the previous version, which allows for
a 16 percent longer driving range.
LG
Energy Solution is currently supplying “4680 batteries” — units 46 millimeters
in diameter and 80 millimeters in length — to Tesla.
The
Korean battery maker also inked another 46-series deal with Rivian on the
supply of up to 67 gigawatt-hours over the next five years. The size of the
deal is reported to be worth some 8 trillion won ($5.5 billion).
It
also clinched a 10-year battery supply deal with Mercedes-Benz for the series
starting from Jan. 1, 2028.
“Batteries
for almost all clients’ vehicles for the U.S. market will be made in Arizona,”
said a spokesperson for LG Energy Solution.
The
construction of the LFP battery line, however, was halted in June last year,
within just two months of groundbreaking, with the company citing the necessity
of “adjusting the pace of planned investment execution efficiently and
flexibly” based on the stalling EV market.
Regarding
looming concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to cut subsidies for
Korean battery makers, the Arizona state government is in close talks with the
Trump administration to deliver the Korean firm’s stances.
“We’re
certainly keeping close [communication], and looking to continue to work very
closely with the federal government, and have to see what the actual way
forward is going to be or not,” Fernando Garcia, executive vice president of
International Trade and Investment at the Arizona Commerce Authority, told the
Korea JoongAng Daily.
Garcia
also added that he held meetings with major Korean companies, including Kia and
Kotra, for business discussions during his trip to Seoul.
“Trump’s
intention of a tariff war is to launch a negotiation with Korean companies. He
would expect Korea to share its core next-generation technologies like
automatic-driving and solid-state batteries, as it can’t cooperate with China,”
said Jae Kim, a leading accountant for Korea’s desk at Atlanta-based Aprio, a
business advisory and accounting firm.
