General Motors is clearly going to make up for electric cars, not to the news of producing car batteries just released, followed by the announcement of a $7 billion investment, the largest in the company's 113-year history. The investment will be used for the overhaul of electric vehicles and the production of batteries, creating 4,000 new jobs in the United States.
Although GM is still synonymous with traditional cars, it is also slowly but firmly moving to electric vehicles. The automaker's early success in the field of electric vehicles, especially its Bolt EV and EUV, helped it maintain its position as the second largest U.S. electric vehicle manufacturer for quite some time.
For GM, however, the end of 2021 was a turbulent year as a massive recall of Bolt cars led to a complete halt to production. Meanwhile, its century-old rival, Ford Motor Co., has been left behind by Tesla, the global electric frontrunner.
Heading into 2022, GM seems to be back on track and accelerating. Production of the Bolt EV and EUV should resume soon, while other general-purpose models such as the Cadillac Lyriq are also coming soon. In addition, new electric vehicles such as GMC Sierra, Chevrolet Silverado, and Chevrolet Equinox have spread a lot of news.
GM, which hopes to deliver on its promise of 20 new electric vehicles by next year, is building some major production infrastructure and appears to have delivered on the promise of "full investment" made a few years ago. Earlier this week, GM announced that it was revamping its Lockport plant in west New York to produce components for electric vehicles.
Photo by Cadillac Lyriq
Just this morning, General Motors and LG Energy Solutions announced that they will build a new 50GWh battery factory in Lansing, Michigan. We now understand that the plant is part of a larger investment by GM, which plans to increase its electric vehicle capacity to more than 1 million by 2025.
In a press release, GM shared more details about its largest single-time investment, including how the $7 billion would be allocated — a portion of which would go to the construction of the Ultium battery plant. This will be the third Ultium battery plant in the U.S., with the others located in Ohio and Tennessee.
In addition, GM intends to invest $4 billion to convert its assembly plant in Orion Township, Michigan, into an electric vehicle production plant — notably chevrolet Silverado electric vehicles and GMC Sierra, which will join GM's zero plant as the second U.S. plant to produce electric trucks.
In addition to the 1,700 new jobs promised when the Ultium Cell plant was fully operational, orion's retrofit will create more than 2,350 new jobs. GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra said in her investment statement:
Today, we will take the next step toward establishing GM's leadership in electric vehicles by investing in vertically integrated battery production in the U.S. and electric vehicle production capacity in North America. Our recently launched electric vehicles, including GMC Hummer Electric, Cadillac LYRIQ, Chevrolet Equinox and Chevrolet Silverado Electric, have all received positive responses and reservations from consumers. Our plan will create the broadest portfolio of electric vehicles among all automakers and further cement our path to U.S. electric vehicle leadership by the middle of a decade."
GM has previously said it wants to become the leader in the North American electric vehicle market by 2025, a point that was mentioned again in the latest press release.
Looking ahead, GM still plans to convert 50 percent of its assembly capacity in North America to electric vehicle production by 2030, with production of electric trucks beginning in 2024.
Photo/ Um and LG collaborate on Ultium batteries
As mentioned above, on Jan. 25, GM and LG announced a joint $2.6 billion investment in a new project in Lansing, Michigan. The battery factory will produce 50GWh of batteries per year when fully operational. GM partnered with LG to develop Ultium Cells in 2019, and they've been building two battery plants since then, and now they're thinking more seriously about a third, larger battery plant.
The two sides said in a press release:
"Ultium Cells will build a new plant on the land of GM Car Rental. If the plant is fully operational, it is expected to create 1,700 jobs. "Preparations for the approximately 2.8 million-square-foot facility will begin this summer and are scheduled to open by the end of 2024. The plant will supply batteries to assembly plants in Michigan and other general electric vehicle assembly plants. Ultium Cells expects to reach 500 GWh of battery capacity if fully operational. ”
The plant is expected to supply batteries to several GM assembly plants and eventually produce a range of different electric vehicle models, with GM already launching its first Ultium platform-based electric vehicle, the Hummer Electric Vehicle, with the Cadillac Lyriq expected to be launched soon.
Sales of these cars are relatively low. GM will need a significant amount of this battery in its recently announced electric vehicle project, such as the Silverado Electric and Equinox EV, which are expected to start at just $30,000.
New capacity at the upcoming Lansing Ulitum battery plant is expected to come online at a time when these automotive projects accelerate.