Honda announces EV battery plant in Ohio; $700M invested into EV assembly at current plants

COLUMBUS — Honda officials announced Tuesday that the company will be investing $4.2 billion into electric vehicle (EV) production in Ohio, including a new EV battery plant.

Officials announced a $700 million investment at three existing plants, including its Anna Engine Plant in Shelby County, East Liberty Auto Plant in Logan County and Marysville Auto Plant in Union County. The money will retool the plants for EV production and create just over 300 new jobs.

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Gov. Mike DeWine and Bob Nelson, Executive Vice President of Honda of America announced Tuesday that Honda and LG Energy Solution would be building a $3.5 billion EV battery manufacturing facility Fayette County, at I-71 and U.S. 35. The facility will bring 2,200 new jobs to the state.

DeWine said Ohio’s workers are the top reason companies like Honda bring their facilities to Ohio.

“It’s our amazing Ohio workers who built Honda’s vehicles for over four decades and it will be our Ohio workers who will build Honda’s new electric vehicles, as well as the batteries that power them,” DeWine told the crowd at the statehouse.

Nelson said the EV batteries produced at the plant will be used in Honda and Acura vehicles built in Ohio starting in 2026.

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Construction on the 1,500 acre plant is expected to begin in early 2023. The goal, officials said, is to start mass production of advanced lithium-ion battery modules by 2025.

The announcement came 45 years after Honda made its first investment in Marysville, Ohio, Honda of America’s Jennifer Thomas said. DeWine noted that the plant was Honda’s first in the United States.

“Honda is proud of our history in Ohio, where our U.S. manufacturing operations began more than four decades ago. Now, as we expand Honda’s partnership with Ohio, we are investing in a workforce that will create the power source for our future Honda and Acura electric vehicles,” Nelson said.

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