Ultium Cells to expand battery factory in Spring Hill
Ultium Cells, the battery cell joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, is investing further money in its second plant in Spring Hill in the US state of Tennessee even before the start of operations in order to expand production capacities from the previously planned 35 GWh to 50 GWh per year.
In April 2021, Ultium Cells announced investments of 2.3 billion US dollars for the Tennessee plant, which will now be increased by an additional 275 million dollars (currently about 260 million euros) for the purpose of expanding production. The expansion is also expected to create 400 additional jobs in Tennessee, according to Ultium Cells. In total, up to 1,700 people will be employed at the Spring Hill battery plant.
The Spring Hill plant is scheduled to go into operation at the end of 2023, when it will supply the locally produced battery cells to the GM vehicle plant there. The Spring Hill plant is currently building the Cadillac Lyriq Ultium model, with other E-series models to follow.
“This investment will allow us to provide our customer GM more battery cells faster and support GM’s aggressive EV launch plan in the coming years,” said Tom Gallagher, vice president of operations for Ultium Cells LLC. “Ultium Cells is taking the appropriate steps to support GM’s plan for more than 1 million units of EV capacity in North America by mid-decade.”
“By expanding battery cell output at Ultium Cells Spring Hill, this investment will help GM offer customers the broadest EV portfolio of any automaker and further solidifies our path toward US EV leadership,” said Tim Herrick, GM’s vice president of EV launch excellence.
In September 2022, the joint venture between GM and LGES had already begun producing battery cells at its first plant in Warren, Ohio. The third Ultium Cells plant is being built in Lansing, Michigan, and is scheduled to start production at the end of 2024. There have also been rumours about a fourth plant of the battery joint venture between GM and LGES.
0 Comments