General Motors and LG Energy Solutions announced that their joint venture, Ultium Cells LLC, had started production at its new battery cell plant in northeast Ohio. The factory will produce battery cells for the GMC Hummer EV and SUV, both of which are built at Factory Zero in Detroit and Hamtramck.
Ohio Governor Mike Dewine toured the new factory on Wednesday, according to Ultium spokeswoman Brooke Waid. The $2.3 billion plant in Warren currently employs around 800 people. Ultium said in a statement that it “continues to remain focused on training as it prepares to ramp up.” The plant expects to create 1,300 new high-tech jobs once at full production.
Waid declined to disclose the actual date production began, saying competitive reasons forced the company to the decision. “We have chosen to recognize these milestones internally as One Ultium Team,” she wrote in an email to the Free Press. “We are happy to share the process of the Ultium Cells team with Ohio Gov. DeWine today.”
Waid also declined to answer which future EVs would get the battery cells from the plant, saying the company was a supplier to GM and would not speculate on a GM product.
The United Auto Workers are working to organize a portion of the workforce at the new plant in Ohio. On Wednesday, UAW President Ray Curry made a statement to the Detroit Free Press, saying, “We have been in ongoing conversations with General Motors and Ultium, as we are with other employers building products in the sectors that we represent. The UAW believes that employers should respect the majority will of workers and that is why we demand card check and neutrality in organizing campaigns.”
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