LGES-GM joint venture begins production at 2nd US battery plant in Tennessee

Workers at Ultium Cells' second factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, pose with the first batch of battery cells for General Motors, Monday (local time). Courtesy of LG Energy Solution

LG Energy Solution's joint venture with General Motors (GM) has begun shipping out batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) from its second U.S. plant, bolstering the new joint firm's footing in the country's EV market, according to one of Korea's biggest battery makers, Tuesday.

Ultium Cells' second factory in Spring Hill, Tennessee, delivered its first battery cell products to GM. The factory supplies the American auto firm's third-generation EVs, including Cadillac Lyriq. The shipment came after ground was first broken for the factory two and a half years ago.

The factory is en route to introducing Ultium Cells' latest and most extensive capacity. Its maximum production capacity will reach 50 gigawatt-hours, enough to produce 600,000 high-performing EVs with 500 kilometer-plus coverage per recharge.

The second factory, following the joint firm's first American plant in Ohio that began operating in November 2022, is equipped with cutting-edge facilities to run an automated smart operation. The result is increased productivity and improved quality control in each production stage to assure optimal quality for every end product.

"LG Energy Solution's plenty of years of mass production experience in foreign soils, latest smart factory system and its mission to satisfy customers have all perfectly blended into Ultium Cells' first and second factories," a LG Energy Solution official sad. "We'll try to minimize the errors we expect from the beginning phase of all new manufacturing plants and realize stabilized operation shortly."

Kim Young-deuk, who heads Ultium Cells' second factory, said LG Energy Solution and GM will maintain a tight-knit partnership to grow Ultium Cells as a key hub for the U.S. EV market using the company's local plants now in operation and another factory to be completed in Michigan next year.

LG Energy Solution, despite the recent EV market shrinkage across the world, said it will keep investing in EVs as it said it recognizes the problem as only temporary. It said EV demands will eventually spike when the market starts to grow steadily.

"It'll be too late to claim our desired market share if we wait until the market starts to show steady growth," the official said. "We see this moment as an opportunity for us to keep going forward and improve our technologies and capacity. That way, we'll be able to claim a market advantage ahead of our global rivals."

LG Energy Solution is currently running its exclusive manufacturing plants in Michigan and Arizona. It also expects to see another American factory for a consortium it had launched with Hyundai Motor Group, Honda and Stellantis.