In today’s construction news, read about in the US, there were just two battery factories in operation in 2019, and two more were being built. Meanwhile, according to CoStar data, the number of hotel rooms under construction in the United States in June was the most since February 2023.
Monitoring North America’s surge in EV battery Factory Construction
Original Source: Tracking the EV battery factory construction boom across North America
EV battery onshoring began slowly during the COVID-19 pandemic. It became a tsunami.
Only two US battery facilities operated in 2019, with two under construction. About 34 battery plants are planned, under construction, or active in the country.
Onshoring battery factories may not have started with U.S. President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), signed into law August 16, 2022. However, it accelerated industry projects and started a climate tech arms race with the EU. We’re still tracking fallout two years later.
China has historically dominated lithium-ion battery production. In 2021, automakers pledged to build EVs and batteries closer to home, easing the country’s supply chain grip.
Many automakers and battery producers, both local and international, have pledged to make North American batteries by 2030. (Automakers and battery makers’ plans are here.)
An IRA carrot and stick
Why so much investment in EV battery onshoring? The IRA encourages automakers and customers to create domestically to remove the U.S.’s battery dependence on China and fulfill Biden’s target of 50% of new car sales being electric or hybrid by 2030. If they meet battery sourcing and production requirements, EVs can receive the entire $7,500 tax credit.
In 2024, the IRA requires 60% of battery components to be made or assembled in North America to receive half of the $3,750 tax credit. That percentage will reach 100% in 2029. In 2024, 50% of key materials must be from the U.S. or a free trade agreement countries to acquire the other half. That percentage rises to 60%, 70%, and 80% for 2025, 2026, and 2027 cars.
Advanced manufacturing credits in the IRA give producers Treasury payouts. Battery cells and modules receive $35 and $10 credits per kilowatt-hour of capacity, respectively, under Section 45X. Cells in battery modules store energy chemically. Cells or modules make up battery packs.
Manufacturers of electrode active materials like cathode and anode can be compensated 10%. A battery’s cathode stores lithium when drained and its anode while charging. Cell components can comprise graphite, silicon, zinc, aluminum, magnesium, nickel, and cobalt.
Automakers and battery makers have pledged $112 billion to boost domestic cell and module manufacturing. If each factory reaches capacity, these enterprises will deliver over 1,200 gigawatt-hours per year by 2030. Previous Tesla projections say 100 GWh can power 1.5 million EVs, so that’s enough batteries for 18 million.
According to Atlas Public Policy’s Clean Economy Tracker, the IRA has fueled $245 billion in private clean energy and technology manufacturing investment outside of batteries.
We’ve started tracking U.S. and Canadian battery investment promises because they change frequently.
Domestic battery output by automakers
TechCrunch made a map of battery factories with basic information like planned capacity. Scroll down to learn about each manufacturer’s proposed or operating battery plants. A pop-up appears when you click a map location.
Kore Power, a battery cell and module provider, gained approval to build a facility in Buckeye, Arizona in March. Kore Power will make energy storage and e-mobility batteries for automobiles, trucks, buses, boats, and trains. Kore is working with domestic partners to find onshore essential materials suppliers to enable OEMs by manufacturing 30D-compliant batteries, TechCrunch reported.
Energy Solution LG
South Korean LG Energy Solution supplies Tesla, Lucid Motors, Toyota, and Proterra with EV batteries. Battery producer has joint ventures with GM, Honda, Hyundai, and Stellantis to create factories.
LG announced in early 2023 that it would quintuple the capacity of its 2010 Michigan lithium-ion cell plant in a contract with Toyota. LG Holland makes big polymer pouch battery cells and EV packs. LG said its expanding plant will make long-cell batteries with higher range, better storage, and a simpler pack construction.
The company also quadrupled its planned investment in a new Arizona factory to $5.5 billion, mostly for EV battery manufacture. Two manufacturing facilities will make cylindrical EV batteries and lithium iron phosphate pouch-type energy storage batteries at the project.
LG launched a North American building frenzy in August 2023, spending up to $17 billion through 2025 on eight facilities (two of which are currently operational) with more than 300 GWh capacity. LG has not disclosed plant details.
In December 2023, LG Chem, LG’s parent business, began building a Tennessee cathode facility. LG will invest $3.2 billion in that plant to produce 60,000 tons of cathode material at peak. GM pledged $19 billion as a customer.
Northvolt
In late September 2023, Swedish lithium-ion battery maker Northvolt announced plans to open its first North American gigafactory. The business chose North America over Germany for its next gigafactory due of IRA incentives.
Northvolt will provide $3.2 billion and local and federal governments $4.2 billion to the $7 billion project. The expansion follows a $1.2 billion BlackRock-backed fundraising.
Northvolt told TechCrunch it has a “offtake agreement with an anchor customer,” a cell buyer, but wouldn’t name it.
Northvolt’s 15 GWh battery recycling program, Revolt, will be at the factory. Northvolt told TechCrunch it wants to recycle half of cell production raw materials by 2030.
Our Energy Next
A Michigan gigafactory for lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries was announced by battery company Our Next Energy (ONE) in October 2022. A $200 million Michigan grant will fund raw material refining, cathode materials development, and cell and battery manufacturing at the site.
The startup obtained $300 million in Series B funding in February 2023 to begin production.
Panasonic
Panasonic said in July 2022 that it would establish a $4 billion lithium-ion battery factory in Kansas to supply EV companies. Panasonic’s second U.S. EV battery plant will be in De Soto, following Panasonic Energy of North America (PENA) in Sparks, Nevada, which supplies Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory.
Panasonic announced in June 2023 that it would increase PENA manufacturing by 10% in three years. Meanwhile, the Japanese business announced it would create at least two North American Tesla 4680 battery cell facilities by 2030. Panasonic CEO Yuki Kusumi indicated in January that the battery division will prioritize productivity over developing another factory.
SK America Batteries
South Korean battery maker SK On has cooperative ventures with Ford and Hyundai to develop batteries. American subsidiary SK Battery America has its own goals.
SK Battery America began mass production in early 2022 after investing $2.6 billion in two Jackson County, Georgia, factories.
Hotel Construction in the US Peaks in 2024
Original Source: US hotel construction activity hits 2024 peak: STR
According to CoStar, June U.S. hotel building activity was the most since February 2023.
According to STR’s Vice President of Analytics Isaac Collazo, U.S. hotel room development had risen year over year for four months by June.
He said midscale and economy hotels “show the most growth.” Upscale and upper midscale “continue to dominate,” although they are slowing.
According to CoStar, 157,713 hotel rooms are under construction, up 5.5%; 266,619 are in final planning, up 9.8%; and 333,827 are in planning, up 38.7%.
Collazo claimed upscale and upper midscale rooms make up “about 50% of all rooms in the final phase of the pipeline.”
In June, higher midscale and premium hotels had the most rooms under construction.
New brands and extended stay hotels make up “most of the new construction across the midscale segment,” he noted.
Lodging Econometrics said that extended stay dominated the record U.S. hotel building pipeline in the first quarter.
Choice Hotels International’s Everhome and WoodSpring Suites, Hyatt Studios, Hilton LivSmart Studios, and Marriott International’s StudioRes are growing their extended stay brands.
New LivAway Suites in Utah and Maine are part of a strategic brand expansion.
Lodging Econometrics revealed that New York had the most under-construction hotels in May.
Summary of today’s construction news
In summary, 34 battery plants are now in various stages of planning, construction, or operation across the nation. The Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) that U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law on August 16, 2022, might not have been the catalyst for onshoring battery factories.
Meanwhile, Lodging Econometrics reports that in the first quarter of this year, the record-breaking U.S. hotel construction pipeline was dominated by extended stay properties. Some of the major hotel chains are growing their extended-stay hotel brands. This includes WoodSpring Suites and Everhome by Choice Hotels International, Hyatt Studios by Hyatt, LivSmart Studios by Hilton, and StudioRes by Marriott International. According to Lodging Econometrics, as of May, there were more hotels under development in New York than in any of the other top 50 U.S. markets.
