GM Ultium CAM Plant Production Start Pushed Back To 2026

Although it’s been delayed from its original timeline, GM has confirmed that it’s moving forward in its joint venture with Korean battery materials and chemicals company Posco Future M on a new Ultium facility in Quebec, Canada, dubbed Ultium CAM (Cathode Active Materials). Originally slated for the first half of 2025, it’s now expected to open in early 2026

“Construction and commissioning of the Ultium CAM facility, GM’s joint venture with POSCO Future M, is progressing, with production expected to begin in early 2026,” a GM spokesperson told Canadian outlet Sustainable Biz.

The plans for this facility were first announced back in March 2022. The plant will produce cathode active material for the Ultium batteries used in GM’s EVs.

This isn’t the first time the completion of the facility has been delayed. By the time construction began in 2023, production was estimated to begin in 2025. The joint venture has received $300 million CAD in government loans (half from Canada, half from Quebec), which covers approximately half of the estimated cost of building the plant.

In addition to slower-than-expected demand for EVs in recent years, the Canadian battery manufacturing business has hit some bumps in the road recently. Northvolt had a plan for a $7 billion CAD battery factory near Montreal, but it went bankrupt in the U.S., making the plan uncertain. Ford pulled out of a partnership with SK and EcoPro on a $1.2 billion CAD battery factory in Quebec. Additionally, new tariffs threatened and implemented by the Trump administration have had what analysts are calling a “chilling effect” on green energy initiatives.

In other recent Ultium news, The GM Ultium Cells Spring Hill plant in Tennessee just voted to ratify their first agreement between the United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ultium Cells LLC. Also, LG Energy Solution is teaming up with Toyota to use the former Ultium Lansing battery plant to build high-nickel NCMA battery modules for the Japanese automaker’s future electric models. The goal is for the brand’s EVs built in the USA to use the batteries produced at this facility.