General Motors and Samsung SDI are teaming up to construct a new electric vehicle battery manufacturing facility in the US.
The two companies will invest more than $3 billion in the plant(Opens in a new window) with a view to production coming online in 2026, after which it will be run as a joint operation. Both nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells will be produced at the facility for use in GM's Ultium Platform, with capacity expected to exceed 30GWh.
According to GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra, "The cells we will build together will help us scale our EV capacity in North America well beyond 1 million units annually." The plant will also take GM's total US battery cell capacity to around 160GWh.
Doug Parks, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain commented:
"We will continue to scale production and optimize the chemistry of our pouch cells for performance, range and cost using new approaches pioneered at GM’s Wallace Battery Center and by our technology partners ... The introduction of new cell form factors will allow us to expand into even more segments more quickly and integrate cells directly into battery packs to reduce weight, complexity and costs. With multiple strong cell partners, we can scale our EV business faster than we could going it alone."
For now, the location of the new facility is not being announced publicly. However, both companies believe "the number of new jobs in construction and operations are expected to number in the thousands."
GM is investing heavily in battery production within the US. Late last year it managed to secure a $2.5 billion loan from the US Department of Energy for a couple of battery production facilities being constructed in
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