Mary Barra, Chairman and CEO of General Motors.
Bill Pugliano | Getty Images
DETROIT – General Motors and LG Chem will invest up to $2.3 billion by 2023 to form a joint venture for production of battery cells for electric vehicles in Ohio.
The companies plan to build a battery cell factory in the Lordstown-area of northeast Ohio. Construction of the plant, which is expected to be among the largest in the world, is expected to begin in mid-2020.
The facility, according to GM, is expected to create 1,100 new jobs for the area, which lost thousands of jobs when the automaker shuttered its Lordstown assembly plant and sold it to an all-electric vehicle startup earlier this year.
The joint venture at this time plans to exclusively supply batteries for GM’s next-generation of EVs, which GM has said is expected to arrive in 2021. The joint venture could supply other companies in the future.
GM CEO and Chairman Mary Barra, in a statement, said the new plant “will play a key role” in GM’s plans for “a world with zero emissions,” which includes at least 20 new all-electric vehicles by 2023.
The plant, according to GM, is expected to drive cost per kilowatt hours, a key metric for making electric vehicles more affordable, to “industry-leading levels.”
The plant’s annual capacity is expected to be more than 30 gigawatt hours “with flexibility for expansion,” according to GM.
