NextStar Energy, the battery joint venture between Stellantis and LG Energy Solution, will begin series production of battery cells next month at its Windsor, Ontario factory — making it the first such facility in Canada to do so. However, the initial production will be aimed not at electric vehicles but at stationary energy storage systems, as the companies adapt to softer EV market conditions.
“Expanding into the growing market for energy storage production will keep the plant busy until EV sales pick up again,” said NextStar CEO Danies Lee. “The EV market is slowed down. It’s like a trend that will come soon, but it does not come as soon as we expect it, so while we are waiting, we have this opportunity from the (energy storage system) ESS market.”
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Parts of the Windsor site have already been operational since early 2024, producing battery modules using supplied cells. While the plant was initially slated to manufacture EV batteries this year, NextStar confirmed that early output will instead serve the stationary storage segment. The company obtained an operating licence for the facility in September, clearing one of the final hurdles before commissioning.
The path to production has not been without setbacks. Construction was temporarily halted in May 2023 after Stellantis and LG Energy Solution sought improved government funding to match incentives offered to Volkswagen’s larger battery project in St. Thomas, Ontario. A new funding agreement reached later that year allowed work to resume in July.
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NextStar currently employs over 1,000 people and plans to add 1,500 more as production scales up. The plant has been designed for an annual output of 49.5 gigawatt-hours, though the timeline for reaching full capacity remains uncertain. In the face of declining EV demand and shifting U.S. trade policies, NextStar sees growing potential in grid-scale energy storage.
“It takes about 15 years to set up one nuclear power plant but when it comes to ESS, it is a matter of one or two years,” Lee said. “So we can more effectively bump up the capacity for the electricity using the ESS.”