General Motors and Samsung SDI have agreed to build a new electric vehicle battery plant in Indiana roughly three weeks after local officials offered a generous incentives package.
Construction on the $3 billion facility will begin next year at a 686-acre site in New Carlisle, close to the state’s northern border. Initial estimates stated the plant would produce 300,000 nickel-rich EV batteries annually for use in GM products once operational. The two companies expect to employ 1,700 workers at the factory, with an average hourly wage of $24. Mary Barra, the car manufacturer’s CEO, remarked, “The strong support of local and state leaders in Indiana and the combined resources and expertise of GM and Samsung SDI will help us move faster than we could on our own.”
The facility will be located at the same site initially pursued by the Ultium Cells joint venture, operated by GM and LG Energy Solution. Although the cooperation had already produced three EV battery factories, the automaker decided to find a different partner for the factory in January, announcing a new relationship with Samsung SDI in April. St. Joseph County officials offered an incentives deal to the two companies in May, promising tax abatements in exchange for payments covering infrastructure costs.
Although GM has steadily strengthened its EV battery supply chain, statements by Gerald Johnson, executive vice president of global manufacturing and sustainability, indicate the car manufacturer has no plans to build additional factories since it now has “the right bandwidth” to meet demand. “We’re trying to keep that flexibility and that bandwidth to be able to flex up EVs or ICE as we move forward, knowing that the transformation is still going to happen over time,” he remarked.
