General Motors and Samsung are expected to establish a massive joint-venture battery manufacturing plant in the United States as the car manufacturer continues its aggressive transition into becoming an electric vehicle juggernaut.
While limited details about the planned factory are known at this stage, it will join three battery plants that GM is also working on with LG Chem. One of these plants, located in Michigan and costing $2.6 billion, is set to open in 2024. Unnamed sources assert that the new plant established with Samsung SDI will cost even more than this Michigan site.
Reuters notes that an official announcement of GM’s and Samsung SDI’s plans could be made this week. It is understood that the state of Michigan is the frontrunner in securing the massive facility.
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“GM and LG Energy Solution have agreed on building three battery JV plants in the United States, and we would also likely have more than one battery JV plant with GM in the United States to better meet GM’s EV battery demand and electrification goals,” an unnamed Samsung SDI source told Reuters. This source added that GM and Samsung SDI could have two joint-venture battery plants in the U.S.
The American car manufacturer says it will build 400,000 electric vehicles in North America from 2022 through mid-2024 before increasing capacity to 1 million units annually in North America in 2025. Reuters says the company is pondering whether it will need more than two EV production facilities to keep up with demand.
A deal between General Motors and Samsung SDI would not be the first of its kind. In fact, in May last year, the technology giant joined with Stellantis to establish a $2.5 million joint venture that will build an EV battery plant in Kokomo, Indiana. This new plant will create 1,400 new jobs and has an initially targeted production capacity of 23 gigawatt hours. This will ultimately rise to 33 GWh.
