In a bid to capture some of the demand springing up in the USA, LG Electronics has opened its first electric vehicle (EV) charger factory in Texas, and America – its first outside of South Korea.
LG’s CEO William Cho stated last year that ‘electrification’ is a primary driver for growth for the South Korean company. The expansion into the American EV market will allow them to tap into a rising demand and help them reach their goal of $79 billion in sales by 2030.
“By establishing our EV charger production factory in Texas, we will be able to actively respond to the rapidly growing demand for EV infrastructure in the U.S.,” said Jang Ik-hwan, president of the LG Business Solutions Company, in a press release.
What do we know about LG’s new Texas factory?
The new site in Fort Worth is 5,500 square meters and has an annual capacity allowing it to churn out more than 10,000 EV chargers. It has begun production of 11kW chargers and will start assembling 175kW fast chargers shortly. By the end of 2024LG also expects to be producing 350kW ultra-fast chargers in the facility.
In 2021, President Joe Biden announced plans to have at least 500,000 public EV chargers by 2030. LG stated that they believe they are “strategically and philosophically aligned with several of the energy and environmental goals set out in the U.S. government’s Inflation Reduction Act.”
The electronics giant has opened its new factory in Texas for several reasons, describing the move as “strategic”. There are existing facilities in the state, and it “boasts excellent logistics and transportation networks”. It is also already home to multiple major automobile operations – Toyota, GM, and Tesla all have vehicle assembly plants in Texas.
With companies such as Amazon expanding their EV fleets and consumer buzz over upcoming electric vehicles, this seems like a forward-looking move by LG, who are already well regarded in the EV space for their batteries.
Featured image credit: LG Electronics
