General Motors unveiled its all-new modular platform and battery system, Ultium, on March 4, 2020 at the Technology Center campus in Warren, Michigan.
Steve Fecht’s photo for General Motors
common engine and LG Energy Solution will spend an additional $275 million on their joint venture battery plant in Tennessee to increase production by more than 40%.
The joint venture, called Ultium Cells LLC, said Friday that the new investment is in addition to the $2.3 billion announced in April 2021 to build the 2.8 million square foot facility. Production at the plant is expected to begin at the end of 2023.
Domestic battery production in North America is expected to be critical for automakers in the coming years to grow their electric vehicle footprint and qualify for federal incentives under the Biden administration’s Inflation Reduction Act.
The new investment by GM and LG Energy is expected to increase capacity from 35 gigawatt hours to 50 gigawatt hours when the plant is fully operational.
The Ultium Cells Spring Hill site is expected to join other joint venture battery cell manufacturing sites in Ohio and Michigan. A facility in Michigan is also under construction and is expected to begin production by the end of 2024.
“Ultium Cells will play an important role in making GM’s commitment to an all-electric future a reality,” said Tim Herrick, GM’s vice president of EV Launch Excellence. “By expanding battery production at Ultium Cells Spring Hill, this investment will help GM provide customers with the broadest electric vehicle portfolio of any automaker and further solidify the path of We aim to be the leader in electric vehicles in the United States.”
