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General Motors is sell its bet in the near completed Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Lansing , Michigan , to its joint speculation partner LG Energy Solution ( LGES ) . GM ’s step back from the manufacturing plant add up amid weakening galvanizing vehicle demand and the likely rollback of Biden administration incentives to produce clean energy domestically .
GM and LGES initiallyteamed up in 2019to constitute a joint venture to aggregated - garden truck barrage cells for electric vehicles . Since then , the two havepoured billionsinto three factories : The Lansing facility that LGES is acquiring ; aSpring Hill , Tennessee , facility that start yield in 2024 ; and a Lordstown , Ohio , factory that has been produce battery cells since 2022 . The cells produced at the Ohio and Tennessee plants index vehicles like the Chevrolet Silverado EV , GMC Sierra EV , Cadillac LYRIQ , Chevrolet Blazer EV , and Chevrolet Equinox EV , as well as the GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV .
In October , GM dropped the Ultium battery brand name as part of a move to embrace new types of cells and chemistry , like lithium atomic number 26 phosphate ( LFP ) batteries .
GM helped set the stage for a movement among car maker and battery maker to onshore bombardment production after the COVID-19 pandemic . President Joe Biden ’s Inflation Reduction Act , which he sign in August 2022 , admit incentives geared toward helping the U.S. subjugate trust on China for batteries and serve as a catalyst fora undulation of new battery projects .
Aside from LGES , GM also annunciate ajoint venture with Samsung SDIto establish anew battery plant in the United Statesin April 2023 and is working with a handful ofstartupsdedicated to fostering new barrage engineering .
The news of GM ’s nonbinding agreement with LGES hail a few months afterreportsthat GM and LGES were slow down the buildout of the Lansing plant , which was expected to bug out production in 2025 . LGES did not respond in time to TechCrunch to confirm if that timeline is still exact , nor whether the company still expects the industrial plant ’s capacity to reach 45 GWh at summit product .
Neither society share the acquisition price , but a spokesperson from GM say the ship’s company require to recoup its initial investment . In a statement , GM said it expect the remaining two plants will be sufficient to run into current demand .
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GM did n’t share how much LGES is buying the factory for , but a interpreter for the company state GM expect to recoup its initial investment . GM and LGES initially announce a $ 2.6 billion investment into the plant , but it ’s not clear how much each company has spent .
GM also announced Monday that it would work with LGES to jointly develop prismatic battery prison cell . Levy declined to share whether those cells would be produced at one of the remaining joint venture sites , or if they ’ll be manufactured in a yet - to - be - declare facility .
At the Ohio and Tennessee plant , GM and LGES have centre on making pouch cells , which have the benefit of being more low-priced and flexible in shape . Prismatic cells , while heavier and more expensive , have a higher energy density , recollective life cycle , and practiced warmth management .
