LG Energy and Toyota Battery Agreement
Toyota Motor Corporation, the world’s largest car seller by volume, plans to enter the electric vehicles market dominatingly by 2030. Toyota plans to launch 30 battery powered vehicles by 2030 which will count 3.5 million sales worldwide. Toyota has signed LG Energy Solution to supply Toyota with 20GWh of high-nickel battery modules annually from 2025 at its Kentucky plant, US. LG Energy Solution is a South Korean company and one of the top Li-ion battery manufacturers in the world.
LG will manufacture these battery modules at its Michigan Plant, US. The battery modules, consisting of high-nickel NCMA (nickel, cobalt, manganese, aluminum) pouch-type cells. Pouch cell provides a high energy density to the battery module and is easy to customize.
Tetsuo “Ted” Ogawa, president and CEO of Toyota Motor North America said “Having secure supplies of lithium-ion batteries at scale with a long-term relationship to support Toyota’s multi-pathway approach and growth plans for BEVs in North America is critical to achieving our manufacturing and carbon reduction plans. Working with LG Energy Solution, we are excited to be able to offer products that will provide the performance and quality our customers expect.”
To fulfill the supply agreement, LG Energy Solution will invest approximately USD 3 billion in its Michigan facility to establish new production lines for battery cells and modules exclusively for Toyota, with completion slated for 2025. Major automakers like Tesla, Kia, Ford, GM, and Volkswagen are already using LG batteries in their vehicles. The company has eight battery manufacturing facilities currently operating or under construction in North America, and continues to expand both its production network and supply chain in the North American region.