Topline
General Motors and Ultium Cells — a battery developer run by GM and LG Energy Solution — are planning a $6.5 billion investment in electric vehicle and battery plants in Michigan, according to state documents published Friday, a further step in GM’s plan to become carbon neutral by 2040.
A Chevrolet Volt electric car is pictured at the Detroit-Hamtramck assembly plant in Detroit, … [+]
Key Facts
GM and Ultium expect to create 4,000 jobs in Lansing and the Detroit suburb of Orion Township, according to a meeting agenda for the Michigan Strategic Fund, a state agency that offers grants and other financial perks to companies operating in Michigan.
The Strategic Fund plans to discuss incentives for GM and Ultium’s projects next week.
GM and LG Energy Solution plan to spend $2.5 billion on a battery factory in Lansing, and GM is aiming to invest $4 billion to expand a plant in Orion Township that will manufacture electric Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickup trucks, Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources.
GM and Ultium did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Key Background
GM has pledged to invest $35 billion in electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle development between 2020 and 2025. In January 2021, GM set a goal of eliminating tailpipe emissions in new vehicles by 2035 and becoming carbon-neutral by 2040, a decision that likely put pressure on other automakers to announce similar goals, the New York Times reported at the time. The company’s previous investments in electric vehicle technology have included a $28 million expansion to a battery testing lab in Warren, Michigan, and a $402 million investment in an Orion assembly plant where electric Chevrolet Bolts are manufactured. In November, GM opened Detroit’s Factory Zero, the company’s first plant entirely devoted to electric vehicles. The company has also increased its capacity to make electric vehicle components which can be used in-house or sold to other automakers.
Tangent
GM’s slate of non-emitting vehicles includes an electric version of the Hummer, a brand long symbolic of outsized gas-guzzling vehicles.
Further Reading
“GM sets $6.5 bln for in Michigan electric vehicle plants -document, sources” (Reuters)
“GM Aims To Be A Leading Electrification Component Supplier” (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/zacharysmith/2022/01/21/gm-planning-65-billion-investment-in-michigan-electric-vehicle-plants-state-says/