With battery modules now in production at its new Windsor facility, NextStar is focusing on putting out battery cells in 2025

Battery module production has officially begun at the NextStar Energy battery manufacturing facility in Windsor, Ont.

The plant is a $5 billion joint venture between Stellantis and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution.

“We are thrilled to begin battery module production at NextStar Energy, which is a pivotal landmark for our operations,” says Danies Lee, CEO of NextStar Energy, in a press statement on Tuesday.

“This successful launch is a reflection of our team’s expertise and dedication to innovating world-class energy solutions right here in Windsor.”

The battery modules built at the facility will go into battery packs to power electric vehicles.

Each module consists of multiple battery cells. Currently, LG Energy Solution is supplying these cells from its plant in Poland, but, starting next year, NextStar intends cell production to also happen in Windsor.

Facility capacity

Construction of the 4.23 million-square-foot NextStar facility began in August 2022. Once fully operational, it will be the first large-scale, domestic, electric-vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Canada, says NextStar.

The plant’s production capacity may reach 49.5 gigawatt hours (GWh) annually. That’s slightly up from the original plan of 45 GWh.

This capacity will be enough to power 450,000 vehicles per year.

Stellantis’ Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan wants EVs to account for 50 per cent of the automaker’s sales in Canada and the U.S. by the end of the decade.

The batteries built in Windsor will meet 40 percent of Stellantis’ EV production needs in North America.

Critical milestones

NextStar calls the launch of module production at its Windsor facility its “most significant operations milestone yet.”

According to the company, over 7,500 Canadian tradespeople have contributed almost 5.7 million hours of work to the plant’s construction. NextStar reports there are an average of over 2,000 workers on-site daily.

To date, over 450 (of 2,500) manufacturing jobs at the facility are filled, with hiring still ongoing.

The final phase of the facility — battery cell production — will begin once construction is complete, says NextStar.