General Motors has been especially quiet in the electric vehicle world following the release of the Chevy Bolt. The American company seems to have been regrouping over the past year or two, trying to figure out the best course of action moving forward. Well, they made a big step today as they announced a joint venture with LG Chem to build a battery factory in Ohio.
Obviously having a reliable and cheap supply of batteries will make or break any company’s plan on creating mass-production electric cars. Thus it is of the interest of any major automaker to have their own battery factories to have complete oversight of.
This new deal will see $2.3 billion used to create a jointly owned battery factory that will have an annual capacity of 30 GWh a year, making it a “Gigafactory” as popularized by Tesla’s factories. The plant will be built in the Lordstown area in Northeast Ohio and will create more than 1,100 new jobs with groundbreaking expected to take place in the middle of 2020.
GM Chairman and CEO Mary Barra, made the following statement:
“With this investment, Ohio and its highly capable workforce will play a key role in our journey toward a world with zero emissions. Combining our manufacturing expertise with LG Chem’s leading battery-cell technology will help accelerate our pursuit of an all-electric future. We look forward to collaborating with LG Chem on future cell technologies that will continue to improve the value we deliver to our customers.”
While LG Chem Vice Chairman & CEO Hak-Cheol Shin said:
“Our joint venture with the No. 1 American automaker will further prepare us for the anticipated growth of the North American EV market, while giving us insights into the broader EV ecosystem. Our long-standing history with General Motors has proven our collective expertise in this space, and we look forward to continuing this drive for zero emissions.”
LG Chem is looking to continue being a leader in the electric car battery world and is looking towards providing 100 GWh worth of batteries annually. The 30 GWh from this factory will surely help them towards that goal.
The batteries from this factory will no doubt make it easier for GM to move along with electric car projects and provide a reliable source of batteries for their upcoming Cadillac EV as well as an electric truck that is coming late 2021.
What do you guys think of the deal? Let us know down in the comments below.
Source: GM
