WASHINGTON/SEOUL: South Korea’s Samsung SDI Co. Ltd. is considering building a battery plant in central Illinois, Senator Dick Durbin told reporters on Thursday.
According to a video from the press conference posted on the website of the Pentagraph newspaper, Durbin said that Samsung is in discussions to build a battery plant in Normal, Illinois. Electric-vehicle startup Rivian has a factory in Normal and said in April that Samsung SDI would supply battery cells for its vehicles.
“We’re competing for a major Samsung battery feature. This delegation came from Korea this week. I talked to them and so did others,” Durbin said. “This Samsung facility, we hope, will be located next to the Rivian. This decision has not been made. Having a battery facility will also create thousands of jobs.”
Last month, Reuters reported that Samsung SDI, an affiliate of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd, may be building a battery cell plant in the United States. Reuters also reported that Samsung SDI is in talks with electric vehicle makers including Stelantis and Rivian, backed by Amazon and Ford Motor Co., to supply batteries manufactured at a potential US factory.
According to the source, the South Korean battery maker is looking to invest at least 3 trillion won ($2.62 billion) to make batteries for Stelantis and a minimum of 1 trillion won for the battery.
The source said Samsung SDI is yet to decide whether to launch the US plant as a joint venture with the carmaker or as an independent manufacturing site.
A person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters that Samsung SDI executives have recently been taking business trips to Detroit to discuss battery supply issues with Stelantis.
Samsung SDI has EV battery plants in South Korea, China and Hungary, supplying customers such as BMW, Ford, Volvo and Volkswagen.
Samsung and Durbin’s office did not immediately comment on Thursday. Rivian declined to comment.
On Wednesday, Reuters reported that Rivian is in discussions to invest at least $5 billion in a new vehicle plant near Fort Worth, Texas, a city document showed. Durbin also said he expects Rivian to expand into Illinois and add more jobs.
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