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General Motors Announces Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center Plans

General Motors announced the Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center, an all-new facility that will significantly expand the company’s battery technology operations and accelerate development and commercialization of longer range, more affordable EV batteries.

“The Wallace Center will significantly ramp up development and production of our next-generation Ultium batteries and our ability to bring next-generation EV batteries to market,” said Doug Parks, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain. “The addition of the Wallace Center is a massive expansion of our battery development operations and will be a key part of our plan to build cells that will be the basis of more affordable EVs with longer range in the future.”

General Motors Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center

The Wallace Center will play a critical role in the automaker’s future, as General Motors will also use the facility to integrate the work of GM-affiliated battery innovators, helping the company to reach its stated goal of at least 60 percent lower battery costs with the next generation of Ultium battery-powered vehicles. The center will also allow GM to accelerate new technologies like lithium-metal, silicon and solid-state batteries, along with production methods that can quickly be deployed at battery cell manufacturing plants, including GM’s joint ventures with LG Energy Solution in Lordstown, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tennessee, and other undisclosed locations in the U.S., and will enable it to take full advantage of its recently announced partnership with Wolfspeed, a domestic silicon carbide supplier.

Construction is currently underway and will be completed in mid-2022. Designed for expansion, the facility is projected to grow up to at least three times its initial footprint, with room for additional investments, as demand for EVs increases. The facility is expected to build its first prototype cells in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The investment towards the new Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center builds on more than $5 billion dollars already invested by General Motors towards the development and production of EV components within the United States.

Notably, The General has a range of upcoming EVs, including the highly-anticipated GMC Hummer EV models, Cadillac Lyriq luxury EV, and an electrified Chevy pickup truck.

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Comments

  1. Another great step forward for GM, who already had the largest battery lab in the USA. Nice to see construction has already started. GM is spending a lot of money on R & D facilities the last few years, a new design center, a new wind tunnel, this is all great, going forward.

    Reply
    1. I hope they start spending more at their underutilized plants in the US e.g Orion, Fairfax, and Grand River.

      Reply
      1. R & D for better products should come first IMO

        Reply
        1. Like new V8’s I doupt anyone will bail them out this time.

          Reply
  2. Who is the “Wallace Center” named after?

    Reply
    1. Jim Wallace, who worked on battery systems at GM until 2018 when he unfortunately passed away from cancer.

      Reply
  3. Since it is already under construction, I assume the location of this new facility is not a secret. I don’t see that mentioned in the article.

    Reply

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