NextStar to become one of the biggest EV battery plants in the world

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NextStar Energy has begun the hiring process for what will be one the biggest electric vehicle battery plants in the world located in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

This is according to a report by the Windsor Star published on Monday.

The facility will start with 130 employees.

“They will be our launch team,” told the local news outlet NextStar CEO Danies Lee.

“The expectations are the engineers and technicians will be ready to train the next intake of employees,” he said. “They will play a critical role in the start of production.”

Lee also announced that the plant will increase production capacity to 49 gigawatt hours from the 45 GWh originally announced in March 2022 and will be responsible for the production of batteries for 500,000 vehicles per year.

“NextStar Energy’s move to begin hiring workers for Canada’s first EV battery manufacturing plant is another example of Ontario’s growing momentum as a global leader in the electric vehicle revolution,” said Vic Fedeli, Ontario’s minister of economic development, job creation and trade.”

“The new facility will be a key part of our province’s end-to-end EV supply chain, creating 2,500 good-paying manufacturing jobs in Windsor and the surrounding region.”

Lee further told the Windsor Star that no other plant will be able to compete with NextStar.

“No battery plant in North America will be producing batteries in the volume and quality we’ll be doing here,” said Lee.

“We’re bringing a whole new way of doing manufacturing and a different way of how our employees will work to Windsor. Two-thirds of our capital investment is in equipment and automation.

“It’s very sophisticated machinery and technology. We look at our employees as our most critical assets and we’ll be giving them extensive, proprietary training to ensure they’re not intimidated by the machines on the shop floor.”

Production will begin in January of 2025 and will see the employment of 2,200 people at full capacity.

“Today’s announcement is yet another concrete example of how our investments are creating well-paying jobs in Ontario and beyond,” said federal Minister of Science, Innovation and Industry Francois-Phillipe Champagne.

“It also marks an important step as we move towards zero-emissions vehicles while ensuring that the cars of the future are made right here in Canada.