Canada Automotive Electric Vehicle Battery

On April 25, 2024, Honda Motor Co., Ltd. announced that it plans to build a comprehensive EV value chain in Canada with an approximate investment of US$11 billion, including investment by joint venture partners, to strengthen its EV supply capability and prepare for a future increase in EV demand in North America.  The investment plans to retool existing facilities and build a new, stand-alone Honda EV battery plant in Alliston, Ontario.  The value chain will also include a cathode active material processing plant and a separator plant through joint venture partnerships with POSCO Future M Co., Ltd. and Asahi Kasei Corporation respectively.  Once operational in 2028, the production capacity of the EV plant is expected to reach 240,000 EVs per year, while the EV battery plant will have a capacity of producing 36GWh per year. The project is strongly supported by Canada’s federal government, as well as by Ontario’s provincial government through significant tax incentives.  The project was officially announced by Canada’s Prime Minister Trudeau and Ontario’s Premier Ford as a vital step towards reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.

Moreover, in the past three years, Ford Motor Canada and General Motors Canada have announced their own investments to start EV manufacturing and build EV battery components in Canada. Stellantis and most recently Volkswagen, also announced large investments of USD 3.7 billion and USD 5.1 billion respectively, to each build a gigafactory of electric batteries in Ontario, Canada, for their EV supply chains.

The Canadian market offers many collaboration opportunities for U.S. manufacturers, such as equipment and systems for new EV assembly facilities.  A large variety of assemblies, components, parts, and materials specific to EVs will also be needed in the supply chain for Tier 1 and Tier 2 automotive suppliers.  Batteries for EVs represents a particularly important sector, one which is strongly supported by the combined efforts of the U.S. and Canadian Governments.

The U.S. Commercial Service in Canada is closely following all of these projects and is assisting U.S. companies with advocacy support and business to business contact information for all of the battery and related EV supply chain plants that have been announced to date in Canada.

For further information contact Commercial Specialist Stefan.Popescu@trade.gov