Ultium Cells, the battery cell manufacturing joint venture between LG Energy Solution and General Motors, is to invest an additional US$275m in the Ultium Cells Spring Hill plant, Tennessee. The intent is to expand the facility’s battery cell output by more than 40% from 35GWh to 50GWh when the plant is fully operational.
Battery cell production at the 2,800,000ft2 facility will begin in late 2023. The facility will supply battery cells to GM’s Spring Hill assembly plant for production of the Cadillac Lyriq and other GM Ultium platform-based EVs.
“This investment will allow us to provide our customer GM more battery cells faster and support GM’s aggressive EV launch plan in the coming years,” said Tom Gallagher, Ultium Cells vice president of operations. “Ultium Cells is taking the appropriate steps to support GM’s plan for more than one million units of EV capacity in North America by mid-decade.”
The Spring Hill site joins other Ultium Cells battery cell manufacturing sites under construction in Ohio and Michigan. The facility in Warren, Ohio, began battery cell production in August and continues to accelerate production volume. Meanwhile, the Lansing Delta Township facility in Michigan is under construction and will start production in late 2024.
Ultium Cells expects to have more than 130GWh of battery cell capacity when all three facilities are at full production capacity later this decade.