US facility · EV batteries
Honda and LG Energy Solution to build $4.4 billion EV battery plant in the US
- Company
- Honda (with LG Energy Solution) (Tokyo)
- Project
- US EV battery joint venture (L-H Battery Company), Fayette County, Ohio
- Value
- $4.4B (combined)
- Status
- JV L-H Battery Company formally established January 13, 2023 (LGES 51%, Honda 49%); plant built in Fayette County, Ohio. The plant's later history, including Honda's purchase of the buildings and the 2026 EV cancellation, is covered in the entry on Honda's Ohio EV hub.
- Date
- 2022-08-29
Honda and South Korea's LG Energy Solution agreed to form a US joint venture to make lithium-ion cells for Honda and Acura EVs. The partners plan to invest $4.4 billion in a plant with about 40 GWh of annual capacity. Construction was to start in early 2023, with mass production by the end of 2025. The site was still to be chosen.
Why it matters
Announced two weeks after the Inflation Reduction Act tied EV tax credits to North American batteries, it was meant to secure Honda's own US cell supply for EVs it planned to build in Ohio from 2026. Honda's 2026 cancellation of those models left the plant in search of other uses.
The plan
Honda and LG Energy Solution agreed on August 29, 2022 to build a lithium-ion cell plant in the US with about 40 GWh of yearly capacity. Total investment was put at $4.4 billion, including $3.5 billion for the plant, with about 2,200 jobs. The joint venture, L-H Battery Company, was set up in January 2023, 51% owned by LGES and 49% by Honda.
Building the plant
The site chosen was in Fayette County, Ohio, near Jeffersonville, close to Honda's Ohio car plants. Ground was broken on February 28, 2023. Mass production was meant to start by the end of 2025, but the first cells came off the line on July 2, 2026. They were cells for energy storage systems rather than EVs, made for LGES's storage arm, with more than 1,000 employees at the start.
Why it changed
The JV was announced two weeks after the Inflation Reduction Act tied EV tax credits to North American batteries. As US EV demand cooled and Honda scaled back its EV plans in 2025 and 2026, the plant switched to the booming market for grid storage batteries. Honda's purchase of the buildings and its EV cancellation are covered in the entry on its Ohio EV hub.
Sources
Kakehashi M&A News home
