General Motors and Samsung SDI will collaborate on the construction of a new electric vehicle (EV) battery cell plant in Indiana, the United States.
The plant, which will require an investment of over $3 billion, is scheduled to commence operations in 2026 and is expected to generate 1,700 employment opportunities.
General Motors and Samsung SDI, in April, revealed their plans to establish a joint venture EV battery manufacturing facility in the United States. However, they had not disclosed the specific location at that time.
Earlier this year, Reuters reported that GM had decided against proceeding with the construction of a fourth U.S. battery plant in Indiana alongside LG Energy Solution. Nevertheless, the possibility remained that GM could choose Indiana as the site for a battery plant in collaboration with another partner.
The joint GM and Samsung SDI plant, located near New Carlisle, Indiana, will have an annual production capacity of 30 gigawatt hours (GWh). The facility will manufacture high-nickel prismatic and cylindrical battery cells.
Yoonho Choi, CEO of Samsung SDI, stated that by establishing a firm presence in Indiana with GM, Samsung SDI aims to supply products of the utmost safety and quality, thereby contributing to the advancement of the United States’ transition to the era of electric vehicles.
Late last year, the U.S. Energy Department finalized a $2.5 billion loan for the GM-LG Energy Ultium Cells joint venture. The companies are currently constructing a $2.6 billion plant in Michigan, set to open in 2024, following the launch of a plant in Ohio. Additionally, they are in the process of building another facility in Tennessee.
GM has set a goal of manufacturing 400,000 electric vehicles (EVs) in North America between 2022 and mid-2024, with plans to further increase capacity to 1 million units annually by 2025. In April, Reuters reported that GM is contemplating the construction of at least two additional EV plants in addition to the initial four, in order to meet the anticipated future demand for electric vehicles.
In April, United Auto Workers (UAW) President Shawn Fain and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders criticized the GM LG Ohio joint venture for paying workers significantly lower wages compared to assembly plant employees, despite benefiting from substantial U.S. government tax credits.