When General Motors (GM) -) introduced its Ultium Platform in 2020, the automaker said the battery technology "has given designers and engineers incredible versatility."
"Its modular battery cells can be arranged horizontally or vertically, and the pack they sit in becomes part of the vehicle chassis, GM said. "They can power three different-sized motors that can be arranged to give a vehicle whatever it needs — now, and in the future."
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However, the future is looking a little cloudy right now as GM's is halting production at its CAMI EV assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, Canada, for the month due to overwhelming demand for the Ultium battery platform.
'Sales are Through the Roof'
The plant assembles the EV BrightDrop cargo van, but high demand for GM’s Ultium battery and limited production will shutter the plant despite strong sales, Mike Van Boekel, Unifor Local 88 chairperson, told the London Free Press.
“They’re out at all GM plants, they need batteries and it stems from a raw material bottleneck,” said Van Boekel. “Sales are through the roof. Things are good, but we just don’t have batteries.”
Cami has about four years of orders on the books and “GM is building more batteries, but it doesn’t happen overnight,” he added.
Sources close to the facility said GM is building a 400,000 square feet addition to assemble its own batteries to support BrightDrop production.
GM has only one plant in Ohio making the Ultium battery, but plans to open a second in Tennessee in 2024 and a third in Michigan in 2025.
Last year GM Canada announced it was investing roughly $750 million to convert the assembly plant. The automaker said it would begin production of its BrightDrop electric delivery vans in December 2022.
The first 50 BrightDrop EV vans were deployed from the facility last month. Cami has received BrightDrop orders from Hertz (HTZZW) -), Walmart (WMT) -), FedEx (FDX) -), Verizon (VZ) -), Merchants Fleet, a fleet management firm, and DHL Canada.
Launching Three EVs
Workers are scheduled to return to work July 31.
General Motors did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
GM sold a total of 15,652 EVs in the second quarter. However, Electrek pointed out that nearly 14,000 were Chevy Bolt EV or EUV models, which GM is discontinuing later this year--at least in its current form.
To help fill the gap left by the Bolt EV/EUV, GM is launching three high-volume Ultium electric cars this year, including the Silverado EV, Equinox EV, and Blazer EV.
After launching its first Ultium-based EV, the GMC Hummer EV pickup, in late 2021, GM sold a total of two in the first three months of the year and 47 in Q2, down 83% year-over-year.
GM said in May that later this year Cadillac will launch an electric version of the iconic full-size Cadillac Escalade SUV.
The new model, the Cadillac Escalade IQ, "promises the same commitment to craftsmanship, technology and performance that has helped the Escalade nameplate dominate the large luxury SUV segment for the last 20 years," the company said in a statement on May 22.
