Story at a glance

  • GM and LG Chem are setting up their joint car battery venture.
  • The U.S. automaker hopes to sell 22 new electric vehicles by 2023.

Since announcing their partnership in December, General Motors and LG Chem are now beginning construction on its new battery factory in Lordstown, Ohio, calling the venture “Ultium Cells LLC.”

Business Insider reports that the factory will be used to manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, and will cost about $2.3 million. 

The Ultium Cells factory will be located near GM’s previously shuttered Lordstown assembly plant, which was sold to Lordstown Motors by November 2019. The venture will also create a reported 1,100 United Auto Worker (UAW) jobs. 

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The goal is to manufacture enough battery technology to power 22 new electric vehicles by 2023.

GM released a statement online, explaining that despite pandemic conditions slowing business operations across the county, product development for GM’s electric and autonomous vehicles is still underway at “a rapid pace.”

“The Cruise Origin was revealed in San Francisco earlier this year, and production timing remains on track for the yet-to-be-revealed Cadillac Lyriq and GMC HUMMER EV, all powered by the Ultium battery system,” the company said. 

GM restarted production on May 18 after shutting down to honor coronavirus safety precautions in March. 

President Trump invoked the Defense Production Act to have GM use its assembly resources to manufacture ventilators for undersupplied hospitals across the country. 

On May 6, the company announced solid first-quarter earnings, despite COVID-19 setbacks, with a revenue of $32.7 billion.

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Published on May 20, 2020