Ultium Cells, a joint venture of LG Energy Solution and General Motors, today announced a US$2.6bn investment to build its third battery cell manufacturing plant in the United States. The facility will be located in Lansing, Michigan.
Ultium Cells will build the new plant on land leased from GM. The new battery cell plant is expected to create 1,700 new jobs when the facility is fully operational. Site preparation on the approximately 2.8m square foot facility will begin this summer and the plant is scheduled to open late in 2024. The facility will supply battery cells to Orion Assembly in Michigan and other GM EV assembly plants. Ultium Cells expects the facility will have 50 gigawatt hours of battery cell capacity when running full production.
“This significant investment demonstrates our commitment to strengthen our Michigan and US manufacturing presence and grow good-paying jobs,” said GM chair and CEO Mary Barra, . “We will have the products, the battery cell capacity and the vehicle assembly capacity to be the EV leader by mid-decade.”
“With a shared vision, GM and LG Energy Solution pioneered the EV sector by seizing new opportunities in the market well before anyone else did,” said Young-Soo Kwon, CEO of LG Energy Solution. “Our third battery manufacturing plant, fittingly located in America’s automotive heartland, will serve as a gateway to charge thousands and later millions of EVs in the future.”
The Lansing site joins battery cell manufacturing sites being constructed in Ohio and Tennessee.
Barra noted: “The support of the state of Michigan, the city of Lansing and Delta Township played an important factor in making this investment possible. This type of support will be critical moving forward as we continue to take steps to transition our manufacturing footprint to support EV production.”