As GM Authority previously reported last month, GM and Samsung SDI were poised to enter a new battery partnership. Today, the two companies have announced a collaboration to build a new battery cell manufacturing plant in the U.S.
General Motors and Samsung SDI will invest more than $3 billion to build a fourth GM battery cell plant in the U.S. This development comes after GM’s previous partner – LG Energy Solution – backed out of a deal to construct the aforementioned facility. This new plant is expected to begin operations in 2026.
“GM’s supply chain strategy for EVs is focused on scalability, resiliency, sustainability and cost-competitiveness,” GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra was quoted as saying. “Our new relationship with Samsung SDI will help us achieve all these objectives. The cells we will build together will help us scale our EV capacity in North America well beyond 1 million units annually.”
Once operational, the facility will bring General Motors’ total U.S. battery cell capacity to roughly 160 GWh. Both companies will jointly operate the plant, which is projected to build nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells.
“It is a great pleasure to take the very first step to create a long-term industry-leading partnership with GM in the U.S. EV market,” Samsung SDI President and CEO Yoon-ho Choi was quoted as saying. “We will do our best to provide the products featuring the highest levels of safety and quality produced with our unrivaled technologies to help GM strengthen its leadership in the EV market.”
Thus far, GM and Samsung SDI have not announced where the plant will be located, or what the employment figures will be. That being said, this new facility is expected to create thousands of jobs.
General Motors will seemingly exploit two different battery cell technologies in North America, as it currently manufactures Ultium Cells pouch-style battery packs in collaboration with LG Energy Solution. Production of these cells is ramping up at the Warren, Ohio plant, while construction of the Ultium Cells plant in Spring Hill is scheduled to be completed before the end of the year. The third Ultium Cells plant in Lansing, Michigan will be operational in 2024.
“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,” GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks was quoted as saying. “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.”
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Comments
This is a great move as LG Chem was a poor gamble by GM – bolt fires and recurring Ultium recalls.
The Ultium Recalls had nothing to do with the cells, it had to do with the enclosure, produced by Magna.
Not sure the common HUMMER EV ‘bricking’ problem is completely due to the water leaks.
Gotion is building a EV battery plant in Big Rapids Mi, not sure who Gotion is……
This is a US subsidiary of Chinese Gotion High Tech, a battery maker (typically produces LFP, but also some NMC BEV batteries)
Finally GM is getting into the Cylindrical game.
Muuuuuuuch better than Pouch style.
Unless I missed it, this article would have been a good stepping stone for GMA to announce that GM officially killed off the Bolt and Bolt EUV this morning. Talk about a sucker punch to the stomach when the first thing I see this morning is an email from Chevrolet thanking me for being a good and valued customer in one line and then telling me that the Bolt has been killed off in the next line.
I swear to god that I’m trying really REALLY hard to stick by GM. And they are making it really REALLY difficult to do so. In my email from them, they tell me how they are killing off the Bolt models and follow that up with the three new EV’s that I need to be excited about: Equinox, Blazer and Silverado EV’s. No, no thanks and no way in hell. GM had better announce an EV sedan soon, or I’m out and done with GM. I will not buy a truck or SUV.
My advice is to drive your Bolt until it dies, because when GM kills off a vehicle its resale value tanks hard. I have a 2013 Volt (paid $45k new – $4500 tax credit) that was absolutely flawless for 137k miles until the battery died recently. I could replace it myself for just under $10k and then the car would be worth about $5-6k. Lesson learned, never again – love my 2023 Model Y.
mvb: I normally trade up every 2 years. I do need to keep this Bolt EV for at least 30 months due to the California rebate I’m getting. Although not a huge fan of the styling and I hate the non-painted black plastic around the bottom and wheels, I still really enjoy the Bolt. The more I drive it, the more I’m liking it. So I will see after the 30 months what the value it and if it does tank, then GM will never get a dime of my money again. They can stick their SUV’s up their a** and do the same with their trucks.
Although I can’t stand Musk and I don’t like the tablet stuck to the dash screen looks, maybe the next Model 3 will be one of my next finalists. But I’m probably heading towards something from Volvo/Polestar since I work at a dealership with Volvo.
Elon Musk isn’t for everyone and people boycott companies for many reasons – look at Budweiser, people on the left think the boycott is foolish and much ado about nothing, while many on the right remain steadfast and have drawn a line. People on the left (and right) hate Elon and therefore refuse to buy a Tesla. I get it, we all have our reasons, but the people that work at these companies are diverse and at the mercy of the consumer. I separate my politics from large purchases and with the exception of a Porsche and a Toyota have always owned ‘American’ (US-based manufacturer) cars and used to be a huge Tesla hater. Now I have Tesla solar, Starlink, and own a Model Y and can’t go back. The Bolt was a great car in 2017, but GM never invested any more into it and let it die – the same with the Volt (all of the R&D, etc., wasted). Tesla improves their cars continuously even if they look the same on the exterior. As far as the big center screen, you get used to it within a week. The Polestar 2 is not bad if you can find the base single drive version for $47k and 270 mile range, but the charging is still not Tesla or Hyundai level. But at least it sticks out from all of the Teslas on the road.
Thanks mvb for your good words. Today I am just so frustrated and feel like I’ve been there standing behind GM all these years and for what? Like I said, that email this morning was a total sucker punch to my gut and then to have them follow their announcement of killing the car I just purchased with a push for an SUV or truck was just the nail in the coffin. I’m truly done with GM.
My dislike of Musk isn’t about his political leanings, but just his overall personality. But you make a very good point and with Tesla bringing out a +/- $25,000 EV car, they may just be my next one. But Volvo/Polestar will still be at the top since I work with them.
I was hardcore GM and hoping the Bolt would crush the Model 3 years ago and still own a 2020 Colorado ZR2 diesel, but I’m not convinced this company will survive another decade. They don’t follow through and have no long term plan – they live quarter by quarter and boast about some obscure segment leading vehicle they have. Here’s the difference between them and Toyota. The 1st gen Prius wasn’t anything special and didn’t sell well. The second gen was vastly improved, but still wasn’t profitable, but by gen 3 and incorporating their hybrid tech across much of its line up they were making solid profit margins. Now it covers the full line up including trucks. My wife had a 2006 Prius that was replaced by the 2013 Volt which was vastly superior in every way. But instead of improving it and expanding their Voltec system, they canned it before it could ever make money – same thing with Bolt. Rather than refine and improve, they simply start over – let’s see how long they stick with Ultium packs – we already know there are reliable rumors regarding the upcoming cylindrical batteries like they use in China. That would be a GM move – sell a bunch of BEVs with the packs, then abandon them. I have lost all faith in GM despite the numerous top shelf engineers they employ. I wish them well, but I’m done.
I’m walking right behind you my friend. This is truly a sad day for me as I’ve been on the front lines (selling GM) for many years. Although I’ve been plenty critical of GM over the years for things I saw as stupid moves, I still hung in there and would bite my tongue many times. But like I said before, they can only kick me in the balls so many times before my body goes numb. Today was that day.
Are these China owned Corp?
Samsung is Korean and holds 5% of the global share of BEV battery production – the Chinese make better batteries, hence the Ford CATL battery deal. Chinese CATL (34%), BYD (12%), and CALB (4%) own 50% of the market. LG Chem (Korea) has a 14% market share and produced the Volt, Bolt and current Ultium batteries for GM. GM sources cylindrical batteries from several Chinese battery makers for its Chinese market BEVs including the Lyric. CATL is the clear leader in this growing market and has some of the highest density batteries available including new sodium based batteries nearly equivalent to Lithium but less expensive. This list demonstrates how far behind Western battery makers are.