(Bloomberg) -- A joint venture between Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. and Stellantis NV to create battery manufacturing plants in Indiana is being offered $7.54 billion in financing from the Biden administration.
The conditional loan to StarPlus Energy LLC would fund as many as two lithium-ion battery cell and module manufacturing plants in Kokomo, Indiana for use in electric vehicles manufactured by Stellantis, the Energy Department announced Monday.
“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,” the Energy Department said in a blog post.
The funding, which could easily be canceled by the incoming Trump administration if not finalized by inauguration day, follows last week’s conditional commitment for a $6.6 billion federal loan to Rivian Automotive Inc. That would help fund the company’s planned EV battery factory in Georgia. Both companies will have to meet certain technical, legal, environmental and financial conditions to finalize the loan.
The loans would come as the EV industry faces a slowdown in growth of EV sales, and as many traditional companies scale back goals for EV production.
The StarPlus Energy financing, which includes $6.85 billion in principal and $688 million in capitalized interest, comes as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to reverse Biden’s support for EVs including the repeal of a popular $7,500 tax credit for new EV purchases — a move that would require approval from Congress.
--With assistance from Kara Carlson.
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