GM to install battery assembly at Ingersoll factory
General Motors will begin producing battery modules at its plant in Ingersoll, Canada, in the second quarter of 2024 to support the company’s increasing production of electric vehicles. Currently, the battery supply is a bottleneck for the plant.
The new approximately 37,000-square-foot facility (original specification had been 400,000 square feet) will assemble battery cells into modules for GM’s BrightDrop brand of electric transporter vans produced at the plant, as well as electric vehicles based on the Ultium platform built at other GM plants, according to the company’s announcement. GM says it is creating nearly 300 new jobs with the battery assembly.
However, GM does not specify where the cells, which will be assembled into modules in Ingersoll, will come from. General Motors is known to manufacture battery cells through its joint venture with LG Energy Solution, Ultium Cells. The company has so far only one plant in operation for the production of its battery cells in Ohio.
Regarding the scope of the new battery assembly, GM Canada only mentions the area and the expected number of jobs. It is yet not known what the future production capacity for EV battery modules will be there in the future. According to earlier information, production in Ingersoll is expected to reach 50,000 electric transporters annually by 2025. It is currently unclear what proportion of the modules assembled in Ingersoll will thus be for the company’s own use and how many can be supplied to other plants.
General Motors also wants to increase production capacities for battery modules at its other North American electric vehicle plants. It is not clear from the GM Canada announcement which locations are involved and to what extent the expansions are to take place.
As reported, GM had interrupted the production of its BrightDrop electric transporters at the Ingersoll plant for the entire month of July due to battery supply problems.
“Our CAMI plant is playing a critical role in accelerating GM’s all-electric future,” said Marissa West, president and CEO of GM Canada. “In addition to being Canada’s first large-scale EV manufacturing plant, soon the team will add EV battery module assembly to the site, demonstrating innovation, flexibility, and opportunity during this historic time of transformation in the industry.”
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