Honda Confirms Plans for $15B EV and Battery Plants in Ontario
Honda today confirmed that it plans to build a comprehensive electric vehicle value chain in Canada with an approximate investment of $15 billion, including investment by joint venture partners, to strengthen its EV supply system and capability to prepare for a future increase in EV demand in North America.
The governments of Canada and Ontario will contribute $2.5 billion apiece, representing a third of the Japanese automaker's investment. The money will come from performance-based initiatives available through the federal government’s new Investment Tax Credits and provincial direct and indirect incentives.
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"Today's announcement is a historic investment by a manufacturer in the Canadian auto industry," said Jean Marc Leclerc, President and CEO of Honda Canada. "It proudly honours the highly skilled associates who have earned a global reputation for manufacturing excellence and represents Honda’s recognition of the long-term attractiveness of the Canadian electric vehicle manufacturing ecosystem.”
The future Honda EV plant and standalone Honda EV battery plant will be located in Alliston near the company's existing manufacturing facilities. There will also be a cathode active material and precursor (CAM/pCAM) processing plant through a joint venture partnership with POSCO Future, as well as a separator plant through a joint venture partnership with Asahi Kasei Corporation.
Honda expects that EV production will begin in 2028. Once fully operational, the EV plant will have a production capacity of 240,000 EVs per year and the EV battery plant will have a capacity of 36 GWh per year.
In addition to securing the current employment level of 4,200 associates at its two existing manufacturing facilities in Ontario, Honda estimates it will add a minimum of 1,000new associates for the EV and EV battery manufacturing facilities. The investment in the new facilities will also create significant spinoff jobs across all sites, including in the construction sector.
Honda has begun the process of evaluating the scope of its investment and completing negotiations with its joint venture partners. This work is expected to be finalized during the next six months and more details will be shared at that time.
The new facilities in Alliston will add to the Ohio EV hub that Honda is creating in the U.S. to serve as the foundation for future EV and EV battery production. Honda expects EV production to begin at the Marysville Auto Plant in late 2025.