Automaker Honda Motor Co. and battery producer LG Energy Solution have selected a team of Turner Construction Co., Yates Construction and Westerville, Ohio-based Kokosing Industrial to build a $3.5-billion, 40-GWh electric vehicle battery plant in Ohio.
Early site work is underway, with construction scheduled to start in early 2023 at the site in Fayette County, between Columbus and Cincinnati, a Turner spokesperson says. Substantial completion is planned by the end of 2024, with production in 2025.
The plant would be operated by the Honda-LG Energy joint venture to produce pouch-type lithium-ion batteries for Honda and Acura EVs sold in North America, according to the automaker. Honda has said it will sell only battery-electric and fuel cell electric vehicles by 2040.
Ohio granted the companies a $71.3-million tax credit dependent on job creation goals, records show. The companies say they plan to invest as much as $4.4 billion in the venture and to fill 2,200 jobs.
The construction workforce on the project is expected to reach 2,600 people daily. Bob Nelson, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co. Inc., said in a statement that the contractors would “employ a significant number of Ohioans to construct this new facility.”
Tom Manahan, senior vice president of Turner and principal in charge on the project, praised the plan as one that would result in a plant “that will employ so many members of the community in new green economy jobs.”
William Yates, president and CEO of Yates Construction, highlighted the contractors’ experience working on other industrial and EV battery plant projects. Turner tops ENR’s 2020 Top 400 Contractors list with $14.3 billion in 2021 revenue, while Yates ranks at No. 34 and Kokosing at 51. Yates built Nissan’s EV battery plant in Smyrna, Tenn., and is currently the primary contractor on a 30-GWh plant for EV battery maker Envision AESC in Bowling Green, Ky.
“EV/battery plant construction is one of our strengths, and we are committed to bringing this expertise to the team and ensuring a successful project for all,” Yates said.
