Major automotive giant General Motors is building a third Ultium plant in the US with LG. The $2.6 billion plant, which will be located in Lansing, Michigan, is intended primarily to produce batteries for the automaker’s electric vehicles. And if you go into details, then Ultium Cells is a joint venture between the two companies mentioned above, within which it expects to create 1,700 manufacturing jobs. The opening of this plant is scheduled for the end of 2024.
It is by this time that it will also be able to adapt to advances in materials and technology. And by the way, it is important to note that at the same time, various construction works are also being actively carried out at other Ultium Cells production sites in Tennessee and Ohio. One way or another, the eponymous “Ultium Cells” can be installed vertically or horizontally inside batteries, which in turn will allow the automaker to customize the layout for each vehicle design separately. Energy options range from 50 kWh to 200 kWh.
And according to General Motors, the Ultium Cells system will be able to provide a range of 720 kilometers or more on a single charge, as well as acceleration from zero to 10 kilometers per hour in just three seconds. Also important is that the company is designing its Ultium-based electric vehicles primarily with fast charging in mind – most of them will have 400V batteries and up to 200kW fast charging. Meanwhile, electric trucks on the same base will have 800-volt batteries with 350 kW charging. The Ultium Cells plant is part of a new $7 billion investment by General Motors in four Michigan facilities.
This, by the way, is the company’s largest one-time investment to date. The automaker is also spending $4 billion to retool its Orion plant, which would become the second manufacturing facility in the US to specialize in components for Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra electric vehicles. By the end of 2025, General Motors plans to start producing more than a million electric vehicles a year in the United States of America, and this investment announcement is a key part of this plan.
