Stellantis To Build $2.5 Billion Battery Plant

By SUV LIVE | May 27, 2022

By Dave Ashton

Stellantis, the umbrella company behind such luscious brands as Dodge have teamed up with Samsung SDI to build their own U.S.-based battery plant. The facility should start production somewhere in 2025, creating 1400 jobs in the Indiana area to supply future electric-powered vehicles.

This is not the only battery facility in the works by the company. Stellantis have plans to build an extensive battery plant in Ontario, Canada, with production at this plant aiming to start in 2024.

Batteries all Round

Stellantis are the overseers for not just U.S. but also European car brands such as Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Alfa Romeo, and more or less everything that used to come under the FCA Fiat heading. The decision to build their own battery packs in-house shows the constant move forward towards electric, with new models coming sooner than we think.

An electric Ram Pro Master is in the works, along with electric platforms for hallowed models such as the Dodge Charger and Challenger.

A sooner rather than later move to electric for Stellantis is a trickier move when they have brands such as Dodge and Jeep known for their V8’s. Take the 6.2-liter Hellcat V8 which currently sits in vehicles such as the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk, Dodge Charger, and Challenger. They all have a history going back decades, with a clear foot in the ICE camp.

There is also the factor of acclimatizing current V8 owners to the new electric market and price differences. A Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk with a V8 costs roughly $90k with 707HP. A Tesla Model X P100D costs in the US $114,990 for 762HP. Even if electric Dodge and Jeep models are priced a bit less than Tesla, it will still take a lot of convincing for these brands to shift people from the old ways of thinking.