Strengthen Electrification Commitment, Stellantis And Samsung Build Second Battery Factory In Indiana

The battery on the STLA Medium platform developed by Stellantis. (Doc. Stellantis)

JAKARTA - Stellantis, in collaboration with Samsung SDI, has just announced that Kokomo, Indiana, USA, will be the location of the second battery manufacturing facility within a joint venture between the two companies, known as StarPlus Energy.

This location will be the second major StarPlus Energy factory in the Kokomo area. Currently, the construction of the first plant is underway and is scheduled to start operating in early 2025 with a production capacity of 33 GWh per year.

Meanwhile, the second plant is expected to start production in early 2027 with a production capacity of 34 GWh per year. The collaboration between the two companies involved investments of more than US$3.2 billion or around Rp. 50 trillion, creating 1,400 new jobs.

Thus, this joint venture has allocated more than US$6.3 billion or equivalent to Rp98.9 trillion for the construction of these two factories.

Mark Stewart, as Chief Operating Officer of Stellantis North America, stated that the construction of this facility is the basis for the multinational company's electrification strategy.

"The presence of electric-powered vehicles (Battery Electric Vehicles, BEVs) in our brands in North America plays an important role in our efforts to provide clean, safe and affordable mobility for everyone, as well as achieve the goal of zero carbon emissions by 2038", Stewart said in a statement on Wednesday, October 11.

The construction of this factory is also in line with Stellantis' strategic plan, the Dare Forward 2030, which aims to achieve sales of 100 percent of electric-powered passenger cars (BEVs) in Europe and 50 percent of sales of passenger cars and BEV light trucks in the US by 2030.

Many people think that Stellantis is on the right track to become a company with zero emissions by 2038, and to achieve this target, the company needs to secure a battery capacity of around 400 GWh.