Exclusive: LG Energy's Arizona battery plant to start mass production in first half of 2026

LG Energy Solution is on track to start mass production of its 46-series cylindrical batteries in the first half of 2026, says Julia Wheatley, mayor of Queen Creek, Arizona, where the facility is located.

Queen Creek, Arizona, Mayor Julia Wheatley [TOWN OF QUEEN CREEK]

LG Energy Solution’s $5.5 billion battery plant in Queen Creek, Arizona, will start mass production of cylindrical batteries in the first half of 2026 as the battery company ramps up its capacity to cover orders from Tesla and Rivian.

“The construction of the battery plant is well on track, with production set to start in the spring of 2026,” Julia Wheatley, mayor of Queen Creek, told the Korea JoongAng Daily on the sidelines of the InterBattery 2025 exhibition held at Coex in southern Seoul on Wednesday.

“The suspended lithium iron phosphate [LFP] battery plant will resume for sure as confirmed by an LG Energy Solution executive just yesterday, though the specific date is not set yet,” Wheatley added. “LG Energy also has an ESS battery plant in Holland, Michigan, and they’re trying to balance the market, but they are definitely proceeding with it.”

A render of LG Energy Solution's cylindrical battery plant under construction in Arizona. [LG ENERGY SOLUTION]

LG Energy Solution announced in March 2023 that it would inject $5.5 billion to build a 53 gigawatt-hour battery factory — enough to power some 600,000 EVs — in Arizona, its second independent factory in the United States.

The facility includes a battery line for the 46-series cylindrical batteries, indicating a diameter of 46 millimeters (1.8 inches) that was first employed by Tesla, with an annual capacity of 36 kilowatt-hours, along with a capacity of 17 kilowatt-hours for LFP batteries for energy storage systems (ESS).

Cylindrical batteries are largely preferred by global automakers due to their price competitiveness over pouch or prismatic-type batteries, as well as their superior temperature control, which reduces the risk of fire.

LG's 46-millimeter cylindrical battery is said to have five times more energy capacity and six times more density than the previous version, which allows for a 16 percent longer driving range.

LG Energy Solution's cylindrical batteries at its booth at the InterBattery 2025 at Coex, southern Seoul, on March 5. [YONHAP]

LG Energy Solution is currently supplying “4680 batteries” — units 46 millimeters in diameter and 80 millimeters in length — to Tesla.

The Korean battery maker also inked another 46-series deal with Rivian on the supply of up to 67 gigawatt-hours over the next five years. The size of the deal is reported to be worth some 8 trillion won ($5.5 billion).

It also clinched a 10-year battery supply deal with Mercedes-Benz for the series starting from Jan. 1, 2028.

“Batteries for almost all clients’ vehicles for the U.S. market will be made in Arizona,” said a spokesperson for LG Energy Solution.

The construction of the LFP battery line, however, was halted in June last year, within just two months of groundbreaking, with the company citing the necessity of “adjusting the pace of planned investment execution efficiently and flexibly” based on the stalling EV market.

Fernando Garcia, executive vice president of International Trade and Investment at the Arizona Commerce Authority, talks during a conference at the InterBattery 2025 held at Coex, southern Seoul, on March 5. [KOREA BATTERY INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION]

Regarding looming concerns over U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to cut subsidies for Korean battery makers, the Arizona state government is in close talks with the Trump administration to deliver the Korean firm’s stances.

“We’re certainly keeping close [communication], and looking to continue to work very closely with the federal government, and have to see what the actual way forward is going to be or not,” Fernando Garcia, executive vice president of International Trade and Investment at the Arizona Commerce Authority, told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Garcia also added that he held meetings with major Korean companies, including Kia and Kotra, for business discussions during his trip to Seoul.

“Trump’s intention of a tariff war is to launch a negotiation with Korean companies. He would expect Korea to share its core next-generation technologies like automatic-driving and solid-state batteries, as it can’t cooperate with China,” said Jae Kim, a leading accountant for Korea’s desk at Atlanta-based Aprio, a business advisory and accounting firm.

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]