GM and Samsung SDI to Build New Battery Plant in the US

According to foreign media reports, sources revealed that General Motors and Samsung SDI plan to build a new joint venture battery manufacturing plant in the US.

In January, it was reported that GM and LG Energy Solution would not move forward with the construction of a fourth US battery plant. GM and LG Energy Solution are currently spending $2.6 billion to build a plant in Michigan that is set to open in 2024, one of three joint ventures between the two companies, Ultium Cells.

GM and Samsung SDI's new plant is expected to cost more than their Michigan battery plant, but the companies will not immediately announce the location, the sources said. Neither GM nor Samsung SDI was immediately available for comment.

A source from Samsung SDI, who asked not to be identified, told the media that GM and LG Energy Solution have partnered to build three joint venture battery plants in the US and the company will also likely work with GM to build more than one joint venture battery plant in the US to better meet GM's electric vehicle needs and the company's electrification goals. GM and Samsung SDI are also considering building more joint venture battery plants in North America, the source added.

GM said last year that it expects to produce 400,000 units of electric vehicles in North America from 2022 to mid-2024 and increase its North American capacity to 1 million units a year by 2025. GM is considering whether it needs at least two new electric vehicle plants to meet future market demand, the sources said.

During a visit to Samsung in 2022, US President Joe Biden urged the South Korean company to build partnerships with US union members and said collective bargaining relationships would make joint ventures to make electric vehicle batteries stronger.