LG Chem, the Seoul, South Korea-based chemical company, has hired Kansas City, Missouri-based general contractor JE Dunn to lead construction on its $3.2 billion EV battery manufacturing facility in Clarksville, Tennessee, according to the Nashville Business Journal.
Construction of the plant will begin in the first quarter of this year with mass production to start in the second half of 2025, according to a press release.
Although local reports cite JE Dunn as the GC for the project, LG Chem said in a statement to Construction Dive that it is considering various options for the construction of the plant but to date “no decision has been made.” JE Dunn’s Nashville office also declined to comment.
The new plant will be the largest of its kind in the U.S. at about 420 acres and will target about 120,000 tons of cathode material annually by 2027, according to the release.
That will be enough to power 1.2 million pure electric vehicles with a range of 310 miles per charge, according to the release. The facility will ultimately boost LG Chem’s battery materials production fourfold by 2027, according to the company.
Manufacturing construction, such as EV battery plants, remains in high demand especially as more companies move production back to the U.S. Dodge Construction Network expects activity in the sector to hit $51.2 billion in 2023.
