GM and POSCO Chemical Building Factory to Process Cathode Active Material for Ultium Batteries

Age of Ultium

General Motors and POSCO Chemical today announced plans to form a joint venture through which the parties will construct a factory in North America to process critical battery materials for GM’s Ultium electric vehicle platform. The joint venture will process Cathode Active Material (CAM), a key battery material that represents about 40 percent of the cost of a battery cell. The location of the facility, which will create hundreds of jobs when it opens in 2024, will be announced later.

“Our work with POSCO Chemical is a key part of our strategy to rapidly scale U.S. EV production and drive innovation in battery performance, quality and cost,” said Doug Parks, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain. “We are building a sustainable and resilient North America-focused supply chain for EVs covering the entire ecosystem from raw materials to battery cell manufacturing and recycling.”

“We are very pleased to participate in the global battery supply chain project with General Motors,” said Kyungzoon Min, the CEO of POSCO Chemical. “Through close partnership, we will innovate battery materials and contribute to accelerate the adoption of EVs based on our world-class product development, mass production capacity, and raw materials competitiveness.”

The new facility will supply the Ultium Cells LLC facilities GM and LG Energy Solution are building in Lordstown, Ohio and Spring Hill, Tennessee. Two more U.S.-based Ultium cell plants are planned by mid-decade as GM drives mass adoption of EVs with high-volume Ultium-powered EVs, including a Chevrolet crossover priced around $30,000.

GM and POSCO Chemical have signed a non-binding term sheet to create the joint venture and expect to execute definitive agreements soon.

GM EV Milestones

Invest $35 billion from 2020 to 2025 in electric and autonomous vehicles
Launch more than 30 EVs globally by 2025, with more than two-thirds available in the United States, and earn U.S. market share leadership in EVs
Deliver more than 1 million annual global EV sales by 2030
Drive first-generation Ultium cell costs 40 percent lower than those used in the Chevrolet Bolt EV; achieve twice the energy density at 60 percent lower cost in the second generation
Rapidly scale EV manufacturing, with more than 50 percent of North America and China plants capable of EV production by 2030
Double annual revenues from a five-year average of about $140 billion by the end of the decade, expand margins, and grow EV revenue from about $10 billion in 2023 to approximately $90 billion annually by 2030