General Motors agreed to form a venture with South Korea’s Posco Chemical to build a North American plant for processing materials to be used in GM’s Ultium electric vehicle battery packs. The plant is set to begin operation in 2024, but the cost and location will be revealed later, according to a GM announcement.
Posco Chemical is a subsidiary of the South Korean steelmaker Posco and produces high-capacity Ni-rich cathode materials and low-expansion anode materials for EV batteries. A final joint-venture agreement has not been concluded but should be reached soon, GM added.
The new plant will process Cathode Active Material (CAM) – including nickel, cobalt, manganese, and aluminum, according to GM’s Doug Parks, EVP - Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain. CAM represents about 40% of the cost of a battery cell, the automaker indicated, and the Ultium battery technology is central to GM’s electric vehicle strategy. It is planning to offer 30 battery-electric vehicles worldwide by 2030 and has committed $35 billion through 2025 to develop electric and autonomous vehicles.
The plant will supply the Ultium Cells LLC plants that GM is building with another South Korean joint-venture partner, LG Energy Solution. Two of those plants are being built in Lordstown, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tenn., and two more are planned.
Ultium Cells is manufacturing the batteries that will be the power source for GM’s electric cars, commercial vehicles, and “high-performance machines,” according to the automaker. The Ultium technology involves “large-format, pouch-style cells (that) can be stacked vertically or horizontally inside the battery pack.
“Our work with POSCO Chemical is a key part of our strategy to rapidly scale U.S. EV production and drive innovation in battery performance, quality and cost,” stated GM’s Doug Parks, EVP - Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain. "We are building a sustainable and resilient North America-focused supply chain for EVs covering the entire ecosystem from raw materials to battery cell manufacturing and recycling.”
