The supply chain investment required to support the new Stellantis and LG Energy Solution battery plant in Windsor, Ont., could total at least $2 billion – about half of the $5-billion investment in the cell manufacturing site itself, according to Ontario Minister of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade Vic Fedeli.
“There may well be a couple of billion dollars’ worth of ancillary companies that will make components necessary to fulfill the requirements to make batteries in Ontario. It could be $2 or $3 billion in our first blush,” Fedeli told Automotive News Canada. “We’ve got our work cut out for us now to turn those leads into productive sales calls in the future, and hopefully into additional companies that will locate in Ontario.”
Fedeli said the province is working on adding other such suppliers to Ontario’s battery ecosystem, though he had no firm deals to announce as he left Seoul.