The battery belt — a region stretching from Michigan down into Georgia where the bulk of EV and battery manufacturing is concentrated — has yet another project.
GM and Samsung SDI finalized a deal to build a battery cell factory in Indiana as part of a joint venture. The two had planned to spend $3 billion and begin operations at the facility in 2026, but on Wednesday updated that spend and start of production timeline to $3.5 billion and to 2027, respectively.
Indiana Gov. Eric Holcomb originally made the announcement in June 2023, noting that the factory will be located east of New Carlisle and is expected to create about 1,600 manufacturing jobs.
The amount of state incentives, which Indiana indicated will be performance based, has yet to be finalized. St. Joseph County, Indiana Michigan Power, and Northern Indiana Public Service Company have also offered additional incentives.
GM and Samsung SDI announced in April 2023 a joint venture to build a battery cell factory, and finalized Indiana as the site two months later.
The battery cell factory will have an initial capacity of 27 GWh and go up to 36 GWh, according to Samsung. This would bring GM’s total U.S. battery cell capacity up to around 140 GWh. The automaker is building out three other battery factories in the United States in partnership with LG Chem.
The production lines at the plant will build nickel-rich prismatic and cylindrical cells, according to GM and Samsung. Prismatic and cylindrical cells are two of the three types of EV battery cells. GM’s Ultium battery platform uses a third style — pouch — for most of its vehicles.
The factory expands on GM’s presence in Indiana, where it already has five facilities, including its Fort Wayne Assembly plant and employs more than 5,700 residents.
GM is one of several automakers and battery manufacturers that have promised to collectively invest upwards of $112 billion to manufacture EV battery cells and modules domestically. The wave on battery on-shoring has been fueled in large part by President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA provides incentives to battery makers to source critical materials and produce batteries in the U.S. or in friendly countries, a move designed to end the U.S.’s reliance on China for batteries.
This story originally published on June 13, 2023 at 8:24 a.m. PT. It has been updated to reflect changes to the terms and timeline of the deal.
