GM Is Shutting One Of Its Battery And Motor Plants In The U.S.

General Motors is closing one of its battery and electric motor plants in Michigan, as it once again tweaks its EV plans during a period of change and a highly competitive EV market. The plant's closure comes on the back of GM making significant changes to its EV ambitions over the past year. The Brownstown Battery Assembly site has manufactured batteries for the Cadillac Celestiq as well as the small battery and electric motor used by the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray. The large, 480,000-square-foot plant opened in 2009, and GM and Honda also used part of it to develop hydrogen fuel cells.

With the Corvette E-Ray now replaced by the Corvette Grand Sport X, the Celestiq only being a small seller, and the hydrogen partnership axed, GM no longer needs the plant and will decommission it when the current lease ends next summer. Auto News reports the site now employs fewer than a dozen staff, down from roughly 300 workers. GM is offering jobs to workers at its other nearby facilities as required through its agreement with the UAW union. Any ongoing work at the plant will transition to other GM plants. The Brownstown plant opened in 2009, and, before the Celestiq and E-Ray, it supplied components for the Chevy Volt.

The site of a second facility in Detroit remains uncertain. GM partnered with Piston Automotive in 2024 to build a 300,000-square-foot hydrogen fuel cell plant, but the partnership has been canceled, and GM has taken over the site lease from Piston. It's not yet clear what it may use this site for moving forward.

Although GM boss Mary Barra continues to refer to EVs as the brand's 'North Star' and ultimate goal, it has taken some hard hits to the chin to recoup money from its overinvestment in electric cars. In 2024, GM joined forces with Samsung SDI on a $3.5 billion battery plant in Indiana, adding to three other joint-venture battery plants it runs with LG Energy Solution. Just two months ago, GM sold its 49.99% stake in its Indiana plant to Samsung for an undisclosed sum.

Now fully owned by Samsung, the factory will initially produce batteries for energy storage systems. It's possible that it could also be the home of prismatic battery cells for future GM products, though it doesn't appear that a deal has been locked in. Since this partnership fell apart, GM has announced its all-new, fourth-generation EV architecture and revealed an ambitious plan to introduce more affordable lithium manganese-rich batteries that it's used AI to develop in-house.