EV News Daily|One-third of Americans Would Consider Buying an EV|Cirba Solutions $300 Million Battery Recycling Plant| Stellantis and Samsung SDI’s Kokomo Gigafactory Contruction Begins

One-third of Americans Would Consider Buying an EV for their Next Model

• According to a new Reuters/Ipsos poll, just over one-third of Americans would consider buying an electric vehicle for their next model.
• The seven-day poll was conducted online, 4,410 people were surveyed nationwide, and was concluded on Monday.
• The poll revealed that 34% of all respondents would consider buying an EV, while 31% of respondents said no.
• 56% of the respondents said they would not be willing to pay more than $49,999 for an EV purchase.
• The poll also found that 35% of Americans want an EV that offers 500 or more miles of driving range per full charge. Another 37% would satisfy with a minimum of 300 miles.
• Currently, there are more than 80 EV models for sale in the United States and EVs count for nearly 6% of all car sales in the U.S. in 2022.
• EV sales jumped by more than 60% last year and Tesla is the leading EV player in the U.S. market.
• The Reuters/Ipsos poll had a credibility interval of about 2 to 3 percentage points in either direction.

Original Source: Reuters

Cirba Solutions to Invest $300 Million in a Battery Recycling Plant in South Carolina

• U.S.-based Cirba Solutions is a leading battery materials and management company for end-of-life batteries and giga-factory scrap.
• The company has announced a phase I investment of more than $300 million into a lithium-ion electric vehicle (EV) battery recycling facility in South Carolina.
• The facility will focus on processing end-of-life hybrid and electric vehicle batteries, consumer batteries, and giga-factory scrap to extract critical materials, such as nickel, cobalt, and lithium. 
• It will produce enough premium recycled, battery-grade materials to power over 500,000 EV batteries annually which will support the domestic lithium-ion battery supply chain.
• It is located near Columbia, South Carolina, in Richland County, it will be Cirba Solutions’ eighth operational facility in North America and its fourth facility located in the U.S.
• The plant has been strategically located between Michigan and Georgia, also known as the U.S. ‘Battery Belt’, an area where more than 15 new lithium-ion battery giga-factories or expansions have been announced since 2021.
• The groundbreaking ceremony of the over 200-acre battery materials campus is set to take place later this year with operations expected to begin in late 2024.
• It will generate more than 300 jobs and will also be used as an educational and professional training center for the local community.
• The company plans to invest over $1 billion in the next five years to pave the way for a sustainable closed-loop battery supply chain.
• It already has battery processing facilities in Lancaster, Ohio, and Trail, British Columbia.

Original Source: Cirba Solutions

Stellantis and Samsung SDI’s Kokomo Gigafactory Marks Construction Milestone

• Stellantis and Samsung SDI marked a milestone today in the construction of their joint venture electric-vehicle battery manufacturing facility in Kokomo, Indiana, with the raising of the first piece of steel that will form the structure of the new gigafactory.
• Members of the JV’s management team, Kokomo Mayor Tyler Moore, President/CEO of the Greater Kokomo Economic Development Alliance Lori Dukes and the group’s Economic Development Advisor Charlie Sparks, former Howard County Commissioner Paul Wyman and Senior Vice President Business Development with the Indiana Economic Development Corporation Brock Herr commemorated the occasion by signing the first steel beam.
• The two companies announced the formation of the joint venture in May 2022, committing to invest more than $2.5 billion (€2.3 billion) and create 1,400 new jobs in Kokomo and the surrounding areas. The investment could gradually increase up to $3.1 billion (€2.9 billion).
• Targeted to launch in the first quarter of 2025, the plant aims to have an initial annual production capacity of 23 gigawatt-hours (GWh), with an aim to increase to 33 GWh in the next few years. The new facility will supply battery modules for a range of vehicles produced at Stellantis’ North America assembly plants. 

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