GM, LG Chem Venture Plans Second $2.3 Billion Battery-Cell Plant

By Colin Kellaher

General Motors Co. and joint-venture partner LG Chem Ltd. on Friday said they plan to invest $2.3 billion to build a second battery-cell plant in Tennessee to support the Detroit auto maker's efforts to expand its electric-vehicles portfolio.

The GM/LG venture, Ultium Cells LLC, will build the plant in Spring Hill on land leased from GM, creating 1,300 new jobs.

GM and LG said construction on the roughly 2.8-million-square-foot facility will begin immediately, with the plant slated to open in late 2023. The facility will supply battery cells to GM's Spring Hill assembly plant.

GM and LG formed Ultium in 2019 to mass produce battery cells at a new facility in Lordstown, Ohio. The companies on Friday said construction of that $2.3 billion plant is well underway.

General Motors, the nation's largest auto maker by sales, in January unveiled a 2035 target date for phasing out gasoline- and diesel-powered vehicles from its showrooms around the world.

Write to Colin Kellaher at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

04-16-21 1042ET