General Motors to invest billions more in battery plant and EV production

On Tuesday, General Motors announced a $2.6 billion-dollar investment to build a third battery cell manufacturing facility in the US. The new plant will be built in Lansing, MI and is in partnership with LG Energy Solution. The announcement reveals one component of GM’s additional $7 billion set aside for EV production in Michigan that sets the carmaker to achieve their goal of producing “more than one million units of electric vehicle capacity in North America” by 2025.

The battery cell plant is the third Ultium facility to be built in the US. According to the news release, the facility will encompass 2.8 million square feet and has been estimated to begin production in late 2024.

GM Chairperson and CEO Mary Barra said, “This significant investment demonstrates our commitment to strengthen our Michigan and U.S. manufacturing presence and grow good-paying jobs. We will have the products, the battery cell capacity, and the vehicle assembly capacity to be the EV leader by mid-decade.”

The current plan is for Ultium cells produced in the new facility to supply Orion Assembly as well as other GM EV assembly plants in North America. The cells they manufacture are the core component to GM’s strategy of going all-electric in the coming years.

Part of $7 billion investment

The battery plant announcement is one component of GM’s additional $7 billion EV investment. That figure is historical in that it’s the largest single investment in General Motors’ storied past. The multi-pronged release details initiatives to develop electrified vehicles at a blistering pace.

That includes ramping up production for the all-electric Chevrolet Silverado EV and electric GMC Sierra models with total capacity of 600,000 units annually by 2025. Orion Assembly receives an injection of $4 billion to get it ready to produce the electric pickups. It will be the second plant to do so with Factory ZERO already gearing up for production.

Barra remarked, “Today we are taking the next step in our continuous work to establish GM’s EV leadership by making investments in our vertically integrated battery production in the US, and our North American EV production capacity. We are building on the positive consumer response and reservations for our recent EV launches and debuts, including GMC HUMMER EV, Cadillac LYRIQ, Chevrolet Equinox EV and Chevrolet Silverado EV. Our plan creates the broadest EV portfolio of any automaker and further solidifies our path toward US EV leadership by mid-decade.”

Thousands of good-paying jobs have been committed by GM in their home state of Michigan.

Tax break makes GM’s investment possible

The Orion Assembly expansion and upgrade was secured largely due to tax breaks General Motors will receive, keeping jobs and manufacturing capacity in Michigan. Their property taxes on Orion Assembly will be slashed in half when facility swings into gear, and for a term of 12 years.

Barra said, “The support of the State of Michigan, the City of Lansing and Delta Township played an important factor in making this investment in Lansing possible. This type of support will be critical moving forward as we continue to take steps to transition our manufacturing footprint to support EV production.”

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