General Motors (GM) has begun production of Ultium batteries at the second of four plants the company plans to operate in partnership with other firms in the United States.
Ultium Cells, the result of a partnership between GM and LG Energy Solution, said Tuesday it has shipped the first battery cells from a new facility located in Tennessee. Ultium batteries will serve GM's electric models.
The first cells were shipped on March 21. Another plant, the Ultium in Warren, Ohio, began producing units in November 2022.
This will certainly improve things for GM brands that have been promising EVs for some time now, but have been slow to arrive on the road in significant numbers. The Cadillac Lyric comes to mind, as does the Chevrolet Equinox EV, which has yet to make its debut.
GM had this to say, via one of its spokesmen:
"The Tennessee battery plant will help us increase production of our electric vehicles to meet emerging demand as the market continues to grow and we expand our portfolio across different price ranges and segments."
For his part, Chris Desautels, manager of the plant that makes the Cadillac Lyric, located near the new Tennessee facility, had this to say in a statement:
"This moment has been years in the making, and I'm grateful to the thousands of contractors, community partners and team members who have worked tirelessly to make this moment a reality."
GM added that more frequent deliveries of batteries to other plants will follow as the Tennessee plant adds production lines.
The Spring Hill plant will have a capacity of 50 gigawatt-hours when operating at full capacity, Ultium Cells said.
GM has invested more than $7 billion in three Ultium Cells battery plants. The third, near Lansing, Michigan, is scheduled to start production in the fourth quarter.
As for the fourth plant, it benefits from GM's $3 billion investment. This plan is located in northern Indiana, this time as part of a joint venture with Samsung SDI. Opening is scheduled for 2026.