Designing Honda’s First Battery Plant

When Honda and LG Energy Solution decided to invest in a new joint venture to build a $4.4 billion lithium-ion battery plant, they called on Gresham Smith to lead the multi-disciplinary team to design their facility in Fayette County, Ohio. Set to be completed by the end of 2024, the plant is expected to be over 2 million square feet, and it will support Honda’s vision to make only battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles by 2040. The facility is expected to have an annual capacity of 40 Gigawatt hours, and it will create 2,200 jobs. Officials at the plant aim to start mass production of pouch-type lithium-ion batteries by the end of 2025, and the batteries will be provided exclusively to Honda auto plants to produce electric vehicles to be sold in North America.