Early conceptual rendering of Ultium Cells LLC battery cell manufacturing facility in Spring Hill, ... [+]
The rumors that have been circulating for several months about a second factory for the GM-LG Energy Solution lithium ion cell joint venture have now been made official. Ultium Cells LLC will put up it’s second factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee near the GM assembly plant that will build the Cadillac Lyriq. Like the first plant currently under construction in Lordstown, Ohio, the companies will invest $2.3 billion for the new facility and it will eventually employ 1,300 people.
GM is leasing the land for the factory to Ultium Cells for the 2.8 million square foot factory which is scheduled to open in late 2023. LG Energy hinted that a second joint venture plant was coming soon when it recently announced its own expansion of its existing plant in Holland, Mich. and two additional plants.
The Tennessee plant is expected to have a similar 35 GWh capacity to the Lordstown plant. The total number of electric vehicles that could be supplied would depend on the size of the batteries used in each vehicle, but at an average of 90-kWh per vehicle, that would be enough for more than 380,000 vehicles.
To date, GM has committed four of its North American assembly plants to EV production:
- Orion, Mich - Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV, Cruise AV development prototypes
- Detroit-Hamtramck - GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV, Cruise Origin, Chevrolet Silverado
- Ingersoll, Ont. - Brightdrop EV600
- Spring Hill, Tenn. - Cadillac Lyriq
At least one additional plant, rumored to be one of the company’s Mexico factories is expected to be announced for EV production, perhaps sometime in 2021.
The Spring Hill Assembly plant originally opened in 1990 and was purpose-built for the now defunct Saturn brand as a stand-alone facility that produced engines, transmissions and final vehicle assembly. When GM was going through its bankruptcy reorganization in 2009, the plant was mothballed but it was later revived as sales recovered and repurposed to build increasingly popular crossover utility vehicles.
With the two Ultium Cells factories GM should have enough dedicated cell production capacity to support more than 700,000 EVs annually which should put it on track to achieving its goal of 1 million EV sales by 2025. GM has announced plans to offer 20 electric nameplates in North America by 2025 and 30 globally. So far eight models have been announced for North America but numerous new crossovers over various sizes for the Chevrolet, Buick, GMC and Cadillac brands are expected to arrive by 2023.
