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Repair common Windows errors and clear accumulated junk for a smoother, more stable PC - no reinstall needed.Free scan · no reinstallNorth America’s EV-battery factory boom is still real, but the headline project list is no longer a reliable measure of factories being built. Some plants are producing cells while construction continues, some are being retooled for stationary energy storage, and others have been paused or canceled.
As of August 9, 2026, the clearest picture is a large U.S.-centered manufacturing buildout, one major Canadian cell plant in production, and a much thinner verified pipeline in Mexico. The useful question is no longer simply “How many gigafactories are coming?” It is: which facilities are operating, which are genuinely under construction, and which announced projects have lost momentum?
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What counts as an EV battery factory?
“Gigafactory” is an informal label, not a technical status. A battery facility may produce cells, modules or complete packs. It may serve battery-electric vehicles, hybrids, plug-in hybrids or grid-storage systems. Some sites also make cathode materials, anode materials or recycled inputs rather than cells.
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- Operating: commercial production or shipments have begun.
- Commissioning: equipment is being tested, cells are being validated and production is ramping.
- Under construction: active construction or equipment installation is underway, but production has not begun.
- Retooling: an existing or partially completed plant is changing its product or process.
- Paused: the project exists, but construction or development has been suspended.
- Canceled or defaulted: the announced project is no longer proceeding in its original form.
- Announced: a proposal without enough evidence of active construction.
That distinction matters because a groundbreaking ceremony does not prove that a plant will open, and a first shipment does not mean the facility has reached its planned annual output.
Battery capacity is normally quoted in GWh per year. That is usually nameplate capacity—the designed annual maximum—not the number of cells the plant is currently producing. Actual output can be lower because of equipment delays, low yield, labor shortages, supply problems, customer qualification or weak demand.
The U.S. remains the center of the buildout
The Dallas Federal Reserve’s U.S. gigafactory tracker counted about a dozen operational gigafactories in early 2026, with more than 20 additional sites in various construction stages. The projects are concentrated in the Midwest and South, close to established vehicle plants, interstate freight routes, suppliers and major electricity markets.
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That count is useful, but it is a U.S.-only count. It should not be presented as a North American total. Canada and Mexico need to be assessed separately on a project-by-project basis.
The U.S. pipeline is also changing shape. A weaker-than-expected EV market has encouraged manufacturers to use some automotive capacity for lower-cost lithium-iron-phosphate, or LFP, cells and stationary storage. The International Energy Agency reported that more than 50 GWh of U.S. battery-manufacturing capacity was reallocated toward LFP batteries in 2025. Battery storage made up roughly one-third of U.S. battery deployment that year.
That does not mean every factory is abandoning EVs. It means the same building, production line or investment can serve several markets. A facility that was announced as an EV-cell plant may ultimately supply vehicles, home batteries, utility-scale storage or a combination of them.
Selected U.S. projects and their current status
| Facility | Location | Status as of Aug. 9, 2026 | What has changed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toyota Battery Manufacturing North Carolina | Liberty, North Carolina | Operating and expanding in phases | Battery shipments began in June 2025. Toyota lists 14 production lines, planned employment of 5,100 and current investment of $13.9 billion. |
| BlueOval Battery Park Michigan | Marshall, Michigan | Commissioning | Ford reported more than 500 employees and full LFP prismatic-cell assembly in June 2026. Shipments remained scheduled for 2026, with a current employment goal of 1,700. |
| Ultium Cells Tennessee | Spring Hill, Tennessee | Retooling for energy storage | GM and LG Energy Solution planned LFP production for energy-storage systems in the second quarter of 2026 and expected to recall about 700 laid-off workers. |
| Ultium Cells Lansing | Lansing, Michigan | Near completion; production status requires caution | GM said the facility was nearly complete in December 2024, but a later confirmation of full commercial production should not be assumed. |
| AESC | Florence County, South Carolina | Paused | Construction was paused in June 2025 amid uncertainty over EV demand, federal incentives and tariffs. |
| Gotion | Big Rapids, Michigan | Canceled/defaulted | Michigan terminated the controversial project and sought to recover incentives after the planned plant collapsed. |
Toyota North Carolina: production before the site is finished
Toyota began shipping batteries from its North Carolina facility in June 2025. The plant is designed to supply hybrid, plug-in-hybrid and battery-electric vehicles, and Toyota says construction and equipment installation continue in phases even after initial production started.
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It is therefore both an operating plant and a construction project. Calling it simply “under construction” misses the production already taking place; calling it fully ramped would also overstate its status.
Ford Michigan: an EV plant with a storage business attached
Ford’s BlueOval Battery Park Michigan illustrates the industry’s shift toward LFP. In June 2026, Ford said workers were assembling full LFP prismatic cells and that the plant remained on track to ship batteries during 2026. Ford has also said some Michigan output will support residential energy-storage cells.
The plant should be described as commissioning rather than fully operational until regular commercial shipments are confirmed. It also should not be described as an EV-only factory.
GM’s Tennessee conversion
Ultium Cells Tennessee is not a straightforward example of new EV capacity. GM and LG Energy Solution are converting the Spring Hill facility to make LFP batteries for energy-storage systems. The plan included bringing back approximately 700 workers who had been laid off.
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Canada has a major plant in production
NextStar Energy, Windsor, Ontario
NextStar Energy began producing cells in November 2025, and Ontario marked the plant’s official grand opening on March 5, 2026. The facility had produced more than one million cells, employed more than 1,300 people and occupied approximately 4.23 million square feet at the time of the provincial announcement.
It is Canada’s first commercial-scale advanced battery manufacturing facility. Older descriptions that call NextStar merely “under construction” are now out of date.
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NextStar is the clearest Canadian example of a large cell project moving from government-backed announcement to actual production. It also sits within Windsor’s existing vehicle-manufacturing corridor, giving it a natural customer and supplier base.
Honda’s Ontario project has been postponed
Honda postponed its planned Ontario EV-and-battery investment. The original proposal included a battery plant and a retooled vehicle operation, with a target of as many as 240,000 vehicles annually when fully operational in 2028.
That 2028 figure should not be used as a current production forecast. The project belongs in the postponed or uncertain category unless Honda provides a revised schedule and confirms that construction is proceeding.
Upstream projects are not cell factories
Canada’s battery strategy also includes mines and materials processing. Nouveau Monde Graphite broke ground in May 2026 on the Matawinie mine in Quebec, connected with a battery-material plant in Bécancour.
That is significant supply-chain infrastructure, but it is not a battery-cell factory. Mixing mines, cathode plants, anode plants and cell plants into one undifferentiated gigafactory count creates a misleading picture of manufacturing capacity.
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Mexico remains important to North American vehicle production, but the verified project record does not show a cell-manufacturing buildout on the same scale as the U.S. pipeline or Canada’s NextStar facility.
Kia announced a $649 million investment in Mexico in July 2026 and planned to begin producing the EV3 at its existing Nuevo León plant on August 4, 2026. The project involves vehicle production and line adjustments. It is not evidence of a new standalone battery-cell factory.
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Tesla’s proposed Monterrey “Gigafactory Mexico” should be listed as paused or proposed, not under construction. Tesla’s public filing records the March 2023 location announcement, while subsequent reporting described the project as paused. A new company or government confirmation would be needed before classifying active construction as resumed.
Why so many announced plants are being reconsidered
Battery factories require enormous upfront investment, long equipment lead times and a customer willing to buy the output. Changes in any one of those conditions can alter a project’s economics.
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- EV demand has not grown evenly. U.S. EV battery deployment stagnated in 2025 and represented about 10% of global deployment, even as domestic manufacturing investment continued.
- LFP changes the product mix. LFP cells generally trade some energy density for lower cost and strong durability. They are useful in less expensive EVs and stationary storage, so manufacturers can redirect lines when premium EV demand weakens.
- Incentives affect the business case. Federal and state support can determine whether a plant proceeds, is resized or is delayed.
- Automakers are adjusting their vehicle plans. A factory sized for a particular model launch may need a different customer or chemistry if that launch slips.
- Construction milestones are easy to overread. Land acquisition, permits, a groundbreaking and a completed shell are all weaker signals than equipment installation, pilot cells, customer validation and regular shipments.
The result is a more complicated boom: capacity is still being built, but not necessarily for the product originally advertised.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Federal policy still supports U.S. battery manufacturing
The U.S. Department of Energy’s Battery Manufacturing and Recycling Grants program has $3 billion available for demonstration projects, commercial-scale facilities, retrofits and retooling involving batteries, components and recycling. The 2026 funding opportunity DE-FOA-0003585 requested letters of intent by March 27 and full applications by April 24. Those were funding-application deadlines, not construction-start dates.
Section 45X also remains a production credit for qualifying U.S.-made battery components, electrode active materials and applicable critical minerals. However, it is not an unrestricted permanent subsidy. According to IRS guidance, eligible-component credits phase down for components sold after 2029: 75% in 2030, 50% in 2031, 25% in 2032 and zero after December 31, 2032. Separate rules apply to applicable critical minerals, and newer restrictions address prohibited foreign entities and material assistance.
The manufacturing credit should not be confused with the consumer clean-vehicle credit. The federal consumer credit ended after September 30, 2025, while manufacturing incentives remain relevant to factory economics.
How to read future gigafactory announcements
A more accurate project tracker should record at least five fields: location, product, status, evidence date and planned capacity. It should also identify whether the quoted GWh figure is announced, committed, installed or actually produced.
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The IEA’s definition of committed capacity is useful: it includes existing capacity plus projects that have reached a final investment decision and have started or are starting construction. Announced capacity is a much weaker category and should never be added to operating capacity as though it were already available.
For a vehicle buyer, the practical takeaway is that factory location does not tell you where a particular vehicle’s cells were made. Automakers may source cells from multiple plants, change chemistry during a model run or use a plant for both vehicle and storage products. Battery sourcing affects supply security, incentives and manufacturing jobs, but it is not a simple proxy for vehicle quality.
Sources and tracking method
The U.S. project baseline comes from the Dallas Fed gigafactory tracker and downloadable data. Project-specific status was checked against company, government and reported announcements, including Toyota, Ford, Ontario, the IEA and the U.S. Department of Energy. Pauses and cancellations were treated as status changes rather than removed from the record.
FAQ
How many EV battery gigafactories are operating in North America?
There is no single authoritative North American total because the Dallas Fed tracker covers the United States only, while Canada and Mexico require separate verification. The Dallas Fed counted about a dozen operational U.S. gigafactories in early 2026. Canada’s NextStar Energy was producing cells by November 2025. Mexico does not currently show the same verified operating cell-factory base in the sources reviewed.
Is every gigafactory making batteries for electric vehicles?
No. Plants can make batteries for hybrids, plug-in hybrids, EVs or stationary energy storage. Toyota’s North Carolina facility serves several vehicle types, while GM and LG are converting the Tennessee Ultium plant toward LFP energy-storage batteries.
Does announced battery capacity equal actual production?
No. Announced capacity is a proposed future figure. Nameplate capacity is the designed annual maximum, while actual output depends on construction, equipment installation, yields, staffing, customer validation and demand.
What happened to Tesla’s Mexico gigafactory?
Tesla announced the Monterrey project in 2023, but later reporting described it as paused. It should not be counted as an active construction project without a newer confirmation that work has resumed.
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The Bottom Line
North America is still adding large battery-manufacturing capacity, especially in the U.S. Midwest and South. But the boom has entered a sorting phase. Toyota’s North Carolina plant and Canada’s NextStar are producing, Ford’s Michigan facility is commissioning, GM is redirecting Tennessee capacity to storage, AESC is paused, Gotion’s Michigan project is canceled and Tesla’s Mexico site remains paused or proposed. The headline is not simply “more gigafactories.” It is a shift from announcement-driven expansion toward projects that can prove construction, customers and commercial output.
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