BMW awards LG Energy Solution its first EV cell contract, US-built from 2028
Deliveries run 2028 to 2029 from a US footprint whose Michigan lines are already pledged to Tesla's $4.31 billion Megapack grid-storage contract and a 160 GWh energy-storage order book. For holders of LG Energy Solution's Seoul-listed shares, 373220.KS, the bet is that the footprint grows as fast as the promises stacked on it.
Vincent Jiangthree-minute read
BMW said on November 9 that Korea's LG Energy Solution+3.93% — Korea's LG Energy Solution, up 3.93 percent today and rival cell maker Samsung SDI will supply its sixth-generation battery, the 46-millimetre cylindrical cells behind the Neue Klasse electric platform 12. Samsung SDI serves Europe from Hungary; LG Energy Solution serves the United States from plants in Holland and Lansing, Michigan, with 46-series output being prepared in Arizona 12.
Deliveries run 2028 to 2029, and volumes and prices were not disclosed 1. It is LG Energy Solution's first BMW contract for pure electric cars, after supplying only mild-hybrid models before 1. In Europe, BMW's cell bench goes from two Chinese suppliers, CATL and EVE Energy, to three as Samsung SDI joins; in the United States, LG Energy Solution comes on as a new supplier 12.
The profit line is a tax credit
The US slot matters because Washington pays for it, as The Inference reported when the record quarter landed on November 3 36. Third-quarter operating profit was 756 billion won ($564 million) on record revenue of 9.64 trillion won, up 59 percent on the year 36. Inside that sat 416.9 billion won of North American production incentives, chiefly the Inflation Reduction Act's 45X credit 35.
Without them, operating profit was 339.1 billion won, a 3.7 percent margin instead of 7.8 percent and roughly 7 percent below the Bloomberg consensus, and the quarter still closed with a 296.9 billion won net loss on currency-derivatives losses, interest costs and impairments 56. Take the credit away and the record quarter was a miss.
One footprint, three queues
Tesla's 5.94 trillion won ($4.31 billion) contract for Megapack, its container-sized grid-storage battery, already holds dedicated lines at Lansing, a 50 GWh site, with deliveries from August 2027 to July 2030 7. The energy storage system (ESS) backlog stood near 160 GWh at end-September, mostly North American utility and AI data-center work, against a North American storage capacity plan of just over 50 GWh this year and 70 GWh by end-2027 345.
BMW's cells come from the cylindrical side of the same footprint: first US 46-series output is planned by end-2026, and North American cylindrical capacity above 20 GWh by end-2027 4. Jung Jae-wook, the LG Energy Solution executive in charge of ESS battery planning, put it plainly: "Most of our planned production capacity through 2028 has already been committed to customers." 3
The 160 GWh storage backlog is more than double the end-2027 capacity target
The order book is over twice the North American capacity LGES plans even by 2027
- Estimate
Data
| Value | |
|---|---|
| ESS backlog, Sep 2026 | 160 GWh |
| North American ESS capacity, end-2026 target (estimate) | 50 GWh |
| North American ESS capacity, end-2027 target (estimate) | 70 GWh |
The footprint has to grow first
The bull case is real and already in the numbers: the company walked out of Korea's 2 trillion won ($1.45 billion) grid-storage tender on November 5 rather than chase bids that had fallen to the 20-won range per kilowatt-hour, and lifted its 2026 revenue growth forecast to 35 to 40 percent 83.
For holders of the Seoul-listed shares, 373220.KS, the question is whether Arizona and the new Michigan lines are running before BMW's 2028 to 2029 window opens on plants that Tesla+0.45% — Tesla, up 0.45 percent today and the data-center backlog already occupy 7. The first date that answers it is August 1, 2027, when Tesla's first contract cells are due out of Lansing 7.
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