America Ministry of Energy confirmed Monday morning, a $2.5 billion federal loan to Ultium Cells LLC, to finance the construction of plants that will supply millions of GM electric vehicles in the future.
This loan will finance the construction of the battery plants of the joint venture GM and LG Energy Solution in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan, and confirmation will be made after a year. conditional commitment announced in July.
The three factories supported by the loan will produce large-format, pocket-sized cells used for a variety of vehicle types and sizes—from family cars to luxury and commercial vehicles.
Chevrolet Equinox EV 2024
For example, these cells will be used in the near future Chevy Equinox EV 2024but they will also be introduced in Cadillac Celestiq 2024 top as well Chevrolet Silverado EV pickup truck. And they were installed in GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac lyriqand GM’s BrightDrop electric truck. GM has certainly teased other Ultium vehicles, including a coupe-like model with Camaro markings.
According to the DOE, the cells will use “a state-of-the-art chemistry to provide more range at a lower cost”. For now, that means an NCMA (nickel-manganese aluminum) chemical is intended for long-term use — although GM has hinted that it is looking to add a Lithium metal cells for longer range EVs later in the decade.
General Motors Ultium Batteries
With all three plants, GM said it expects to reach more than 130 gigawatt hours annually when fully expanded and support more than 1 million electric vehicles annually by the middle of the decade. Earlier this month, Ultium Cells announced plans to increase cell production to 50 gigawatt hours at its Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, when it is operating at full capacity—up from 35 gigawatt hours previously.
This announcement marks the first DOE loan dedicated to battery manufacturing made possible under the federal government’s Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing (ATVM) program, established under the George W. Bush to provide low-interest loans to help companies produce vehicles at substantial costs. More energy efficient than the ones they replace.
Stickers created by UAW on Chevy Bolt EV 2022
The program also requires the project to operate entirely in the United States—which could rule out the political embarrassment of the fourth Ultium battery plant in Mexico, at least in this battery format. less Ultium format for affordable compact cars currently working with Honda. That will form the basis for a successor Chevy Bolt EVamong other models.
While most of these loans are related to electric vehicle or electric vehicle technology, the largest of these to date — $5.9 billion — was used to fund an effort to promote “EcoBoost.” ” for smaller turbocharged gasoline engines, while Tesla is considered the biggest success of this loan program. .
