We reported Honda was considering investing $18 billion in EV manufacturing in Canada. Now, sources have revealed Honda Canada’s plan to set up a battery plant close to its factory in Ontario, where it will also produce electric vehicles. The announcement might come as soon as this week, as reported by the National Post.
According to senior sources, the federal and Ontario governments of Canada will soon announce a new electric vehicle battery plant by Honda. The announcement was hinted at by the Premier of Ontario Doug Ford. He claimed the deal would dwarf the $7 billion battery factory announced by Volkswagen last year.
Apart from Volkswagen, Stellantis LG is also building a battery plant in Ontario. The two companies are banking on billions of dollars in subsidies from the government.
Honda’s deal is the culmination of years of discussions and negotiations. The deal also covers cathodes and separators suppliers for the batteries. The locations of the two facilities will be revealed later.
The negotiation process involved Ontario indicating it was ready to offer incentives for the privilege of hosting Honda’s battery factory.
EV companies are finding Canada attractive thanks to a slew of investment incentives. The federal minister for finance recently announced a tax credit of ten percent on building costs for companies willing to invest in battery production and EV assembly. There is another 30 percent tax credit for investments related to Clean Technology Manufacturing.
