Ultium Cells, a joint venture between LG Energy Solution and General Motors (GM), will invest $2.3 billion to build its second battery lithium-ion cell manufacturing plant in the US.
Located in Tennessee, work on the 2.8 million-square-foot battery cell plant will begin immediately and is scheduled to be commissioned in late 2023.
Once operational, the facility will supply nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum battery cells to GM’s Spring Hill assembly plant.
Ultium will build the plant in Spring Hill on land leased from GM.
A GM spokesman told BEST that: “We don’t have a capacity figure to share at this time as our focus currently is on getting our two battery plants up and running.”
The Tennessee plant is Ultium’s second in the US, the first is under construction in Ohio.
The state-of-the-art plant will be able to adapt to ongoing advances in technology and materials.
GM’s proprietary Ultium battery technology is a large-format, pouch-style cells that can be stacked vertically or horizontally inside the battery pack.
Energy options range from 50-200kWh, which could enable a GM-estimated range up to 450 miles or more on a full charge.
LG Energy Solution established its first research facility in the US in the early 2000s. In 2010, the company built its first US battery plant in Michigan.
Through Ultium Cells, LG Energy Solution and GM will merge their advanced technologies and capabilities to help accelerate automotive electrification.
In October 2020, GM announced it would invest $2 billion in its Spring Hill assembly plant to produce electric vehicles,
In 2019, GM announced the formation of Ultium Cells to mass-produce battery cells in Ohio. Construction of the $2.3 billion facility is underway.
