GM and LG Chem will announce new Tennessee battery factory

On Friday, General Motors and LG Chem announced a new $2.3 billion battery factory to open late 2023 in Spring Hill, Tennessee. It will be the second US battery joint venture for the American and South Korean giants, after the pair first announced a $2.3 billion battery cell manufacturing plant in Lordstown, Ohio back in 2019. The companies say construction will begin immediately, and that the plant will create 1,300 new jobs.

The Spring Hill batteries will be used for the Cadillac Lyriq electric SUV, say sources speaking to Reuters. GM already announced that Lyriq will be powered by GM’s new scalable battery architecture called Ultium. Batteries based on Ultium would offer power ranging from 50 to 200 kWh that could allow for a driving range of 400 miles or more. The Cadillac Lyriq will be assembled at a Spring Hill plant starting next year.

GM grew to be the largest automaker in North America on the back of combustion engines. Now it needs to ramp up production of electric vehicles in order to become a carbon neutral company by the year 2040, and meet its goal to halt sales of light-duty diesel and gasoline vehicles by 2035. Having a ready supply of batteries is therefore a fundamental concern for GM’s future. The company had already vowed to spend $27 billion on the development and production of 30 new electric vehicles by 2025 and even redesigned its logo to look more like an electrical plug.

Update Friday 4/16, 5:03PM ET: This article has been updated to reflect that GM and LG officially announced the new plant.