GM just announced the largest investment project in its history, pledging $6.6 billion, or about 41.75 billion yuan, to four manufacturing sites in Michigan that will create 4,000 new jobs.
The largest investment is the $4 billion conversion of the Orion plant into a pure electric pickup manufacturing plant that will produce Chevrolet Silverado EVs and electric GMC Sierra pickups from 2024 onwards.
△ Chevrolet Silverado EV
The investment is expected to create more than 2,350 new jobs at the Orion plant and retain about 1,000 existing jobs when the plant retrofit is completed in 2024. GM said it will continue to produce Chevrolet Bolt EV and EUV models during the renovation of the plant, although production of the Bolt series has not resumed at this time.
In addition, the Silverado EV and GMC Sierra have been confirmed to be operational at the Zero plant in Detroit-Hamtrak, the second GM plant to produce full-size trucks. Officials said that after the two factories are fully put into operation, the annual production capacity of its full-size pure electric pickup trucks will reach 600,000 units.
The Orion assembly plant will be the third GM plant in the U.S. to transition to the production of Ultium power architecture models. Previously, the Zero plant in Hamtrak, Michigan, and the Plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, have also been retrofitted. In addition, overseas plants in countries such as Canada and Mexico also have the ability to produce Aoteneng power architecture models.
In addition, GM's second major investment announcement is about the construction of a new Aotene battery plant in Michigan, and the joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solutions will invest $2.6 billion to build Ultium Cells' third battery plant in the United States, which has previously established factories in Ohio and Tennessee.
The plant will cover an area of 260,000 square meters and is expected to be fully operational by the end of 2024, when the investment is expected to create more than 1,700 new jobs. The new plant will supply power batteries to GM assembly plants such as Orion. Ultium cells expect the plant's battery capacity to reach 500 GWh at full speed production, with construction preparations beginning this summer.
GM said the investments will accelerate its position as the market leader in North American electric vehicles by 2025. By the end of this year, the automaker expects to have more than 1 million pure electric vehicles in North America. In addition, GM plans to convert 50 percent of its North American capacity to electric vehicles by 2030.