General Motors and Samsung SDI confirmed a new battery joint venture that will invest more than $3 billion to build a new cell manufacturing plant in the US.
Scheduled to begin operations in 2026, the new facility will have more than 30 GWh of capacity and will bring GM's total US battery cell capacity to about 160 GWh when fully ramped.
The companies said they plan to jointly operate the facility, which is projected to have production lines to build nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells.
For the time being, the two parties are not announcing the location of the plant or employment projections. However, General Motors and Samsung SDI said in the joint press release that the number of new jobs in construction and operations are expected to be "in the thousands."
"GM's supply chain strategy for EVs is focused on scalability, resiliency, sustainability and cost-competitiveness. Our new relationship with Samsung SDI will help us achieve all these objectives. 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
The battery cells that will be produced at the new facility will be used to power GM's Ultium Platform-based electric vehicles. The automaker says the architecture "was strategically designed to accept multiple cell form factors and chemistries." For example, the Cadillac Lyriq sold in China is powered by prismatic cells applied to the same battery packs used in the US.
The new joint venture with Samsung SDI will leverage the capital and technology of both companies to create new competitive advantages for GM, said Doug Parks, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain
"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."
Parks also said GM will continue to scale production and optimize the chemistry of its pouch cells for performance, range, and cost “using new approaches pioneered at GM’s Wallace Battery Center and by our technology partners.”
GM already has a joint venture in the US with LG Energy Solution called Ultium Cells, while Samsung SDI has a US battery joint venture with Stellantis.
