With construction of the GM Ultium Cells plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee kicking off in late 2021, the facility has slowly but surely made progress towards its ultimate goal of producing Ultium battery cells. Now, this very objective has finally been achieved, as the plant has officially manufactured its first Ultium battery.
In a post to LinkedIn, Ultium Cells LLC announced that the first batch of Ultium battery cells had been manufactured, marking a significant milestone in the facility’s history. With construction of the Spring Hill plant currently expected to be completed by early 2024 – as construction was delayed a few months – it’s likely that production of the battery cells will slowly ramp up to full-scale levels over the course of the year.
For reference, the Ultium Cells Warren plant has been churning out Ultium battery cells since September 2022, while the steel structure of the Ultium Cells Lansing plant was finished in March 2023.
As a reminder, all Ultium Cell plants – including the Spring Hill facility – have been folded into UAW contracts following the 2023 UAW Strike. This is a huge victory for its workers, as the Ultium Cells plants are technically operated under a joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution, making unionized agreements all the more difficult to reach.
In regard to Ultium Cells Spring Hill itself, the facility announced back in October 2023 – before a UAW agreement was met – that it will increase the starting wages for several positions. More specifically, Production Operators and Quality Inspectors will start at $20 per hour, while Crew Leads will see $22 per hour. Process Maintenance Technicians have increased to $27 – $35 per hour while Facility Maintenance Technicians can make $29 – $36 per hour, of which the exact figures will be based on the level of experience.
In addition, the plant is hoping to add another 300 employees. This would mean that by the end of the 2023 calendar year, the Spring Hill facility will be responsible for the employment of 1,700 workers.
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Comments
Now we expect the Chevy Equinox EV to increase production as more cells are available for its batteries.
I really wish GM would move away from pouch cells and into Cylindrical as quickly as possible.
They are just far superior. Hurry up GM
But glad to see GM will have more capacity for Battery Cells soon. They are desperately needed. GM has real hits (highly coveted) BEV’s and they simply cannot Mass Produce them yet. It is embarrassing and frustrating.
You cannot get prices down unless you get to Scale…..Lets Goooooooo
Can’t replace/ repair a cylindrical battery cell in a pack. Seems like a helluva lot a waste…
GM used cylindrical batteries in the Bolt and have moved away from them. Apparently they believe that pouch cells are superior which leads me to believe them more than I believe you
FYI, GM did not use cylindrical batteries in the Bolt in any year. It has always used flat pouch cells.
3 cells in parallel form each cell group, aka “triplet” for 3.7 V.
96 cell groups in total (same number as the Gen 1 Volt.)