General Motors and Samsung SDI are poised to build their first joint-venture electric vehicle battery plant in Indiana, after local officials approved massive tax incentives for the $3.5 billion project.
While the two companies have yet to announce an official location, St. Joseph County council members agreed to offer the package on Tuesday, May 23, after receiving a proposal to build the factory in New Carslisle, located in northern Indiana. The incentives include a 100% property tax abatement applicable through 2038, although the joint venture would be required to pay $4.5 million annually for infrastructure expansions. Should GM and Samsung SDI agree to the deal, the EV battery factory would bring roughly 1,600 new jobs to the area, with an average hourly wage of $24. According to The Detroit News, the automaker’s director of local government relations, John Blanchard, suggested that construction could start later this year “Once we make the decision…”
The incentives come several months after Ultium Cells LLC, a seperate joint venture created by GM and LG Energy Solution, cancelled plans to build a new EV battery factory in Indiana. While this partnership led to the creation of three facilities in Ohio, Tennessee and Michigan, the automaker opted to partner with Samsung SDI to build the fourth location, announcing the new cooperation in April. The tax incentives offered by the St. Joseph council are slightly more accommodating than the initial package extended to Ultium, although the planned factory is also larger and more expensive than initially expected.
Once constructed, the two companies expect to produce enough EV batteries to furnish 300,000 vehicles, with an annual production capacity of 30 gigawatt-hours. Despite the delay in building its fourth facility, GM said it was still on track to manufacture one million electric cars by the end of 2025 in January.
