Stellantis is currently reviewing an offer to keep its electric vehicle battery gigafactory in Windsor, Ont., according to the company.
“Stellantis and LGES are in receipt of a written offer that is currently under financial and legal review,” Stellantis spokesperson LouAnn Gosselin said in an email.
Meanwhile, Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said Tuesday that the company has what it needs to make a decision on whether to keep its electric vehicle battery plant in Windsor.
It is not known what the new deal entails, but Champagne said that its amount shouldn’t surprise anyone as Canada aims to “level the playing field” and match subsidies offered by the U.S. under the Inflation Reduction Act.
“These are generational opportunities,” Champagne said Tuesday, noting that most large facilities will be locked in within the next six to 12 months.
“Either you win now or you will be out of that industry for 50 years or until there is a new technology.”
Stellantis paused construction on its plant in May, shortly after the federal government announced a $13-billion deal with Volkswagen to build an electric vehicle battery gigafactory in St. Thomas, Ont. The federal and provincial governments offered billions in subsidies to secure the plant.
Stellantis, whose $5-billion deal was reached in March 2022, before the Volkswagen announcement, has claimed that the federal government was not meeting its obligations and threatened to move the plant elsewhere.
Ontario has committed to funding one-third of a new Stellantis deal.
The Stellantis/LG plant is half the size of Volkswagen’s and is planned to be up and running three years earlier.