US to loan $7.54B to Stellantis joint venture for 2 EV battery plants

The US Department of Energy (DOE) says it will loan up to $7.54 billion to a Stellantis and Samsung SDI joint venture to help build two EV lithium-ion battery plants in Indiana.

Stellantis + Samsung EV battery plants loan

The joint venture is called StarPlus Energy LLC, and its huge project will create huge job growth: at least 2,800 jobs at the plants, plus hundreds more for parts suppliers at a nearby park.

At full capacity, the plants will produce about 67 GWh of batteries for Stellantis EVs in Kokomo, enough to supply about 670,000 vehicles annually, the DOE’s Loan Programs Office said. Stellantis said yesterday that the first plant will open in early 2025 and the second in 2027.

To secure the loan, StarPlus needs to implement its Community Benefits Plan, which includes working with community and labor leaders to create well-paying jobs. It’s unclear whether the loan will be able to be finalized before Donald Trump takes office on January 20, but according to the Associated Press, the DOE said “it would be irresponsible for ‘any government to turn its back on private sector partners, states, and communities that are benefiting from lower energy costs and new economic opportunities’ from the loans.”

Electrek’s Take

Since Trump is threatening tariffs all over the place to stimulate domestic manufacturing, it would be pretty dumb if he attempted to kill this loan. The DOE anticipates this and makes a point of saying in its announcement that “the project will greatly expand EV battery manufacturing capacity in North America and reduce America’s reliance on adversarial foreign nations like China, as well as other foreign sourcing of EV batteries.”

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