General Motors and Samsung SDI say they plan to invest more than $3 billion to build a new battery cell manufacturing plant in the United States that is targeted to begin operations in 2026. The plant will have more than 30 GWh of capacity and will bring GM’s total U.S. battery cell capacity to about 160 GWh when it is at full production.
The companies say they plan to jointly operate the facility, and it is projected to have production lines to build nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells.
“GM’s supply chain strategy for EVs is focused on scalability, resiliency, sustainability and cost-competitiveness. Our new relationship with Samsung SDI will help us achieve all these objectives,” said GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra. “The cells we will build together will help us scale our EV capacity in North America well beyond 1 million units annually.”
The Ultium Platform was strategically designed to accept multiple cell form factors and chemistries. For example, GM says, in China, the Cadillac Lyriq is powered by prismatic cells applied to the same battery packs used in the U.S.
GM and Samsung SDI are not announcing the location of the plant or employment projections at this time, however, the number of new jobs in construction and operations are expected to number in the thousands, the companies say.
