GM, Samsung SDI to Grow U.S. Electric Vehicle Battery Cell Manufacturing

General Motors Co. and Samsung SDI announced April 25 they plan to build a $3 billion new battery cell manufacturing plant in the U.S. targeted to begin operations in 2026.

GM and Samsung SDI are not disclosing the location of the plant or employment projections currently but project the number of new jobs in construction and operations are expected to be in the thousands. 

“The cells we will build together will help us scale our EV capacity in North America well beyond 1 million units annually,” GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra said in a news release.

Samsung SDI, headquartered in the Republic of Korea, is a battery and electronic material manufacturer of electric vehicles, energy storage systems and IT devices.

Samsung SDI President and CEO Yoon-ho Choi, added, “We will do our best to provide the products featuring the highest levels of safety and quality produced with our unrivalled technologies in the EV market.”

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 plan to jointly operate the facility, and it is projected to have production lines to build nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells.

Doug Parks, GM executive vice president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, said the new joint venture with Samsung SDI will leverage the capital and technology of both companies to create new competitive advantages for GM.

“We will continue to scale production and optimize the chemistry of our pouch cells for performance, range and cost using new approaches pioneered at GM’s Wallace Battery Center and by our technology partners,” he said. “The introduction of new cell form factors will allow us to expand into even more segments more quickly and integrate cells directly into battery packs to reduce weight, complexity and costs. With multiple strong cell partners, we can scale our EV business faster than we could going it alone.”

The Ultium Platform was strategically designed to accept multiple cell form factors and chemistries. For example, in China, the Cadillac LYRIQ is powered by prismatic cells applied to the same battery packs used in the U.S.

GM and LG Energy are building a $2.6 billion plant in Michigan, set to open in 2024, one of three joint venture Ultium Cells LLC plants, according to a report from CNBC. The new GM Samsung SDI plant is expected to cost more than the Michigan battery plant, CNBC reported, citing sources.

As customer demand for EVs rises, GM said it will continue to scale its supply chain and operations, including cell production and vehicle assembly.