GM And Samsung SDI Agree To Construction Of EV Battery Factory In Indiana

General Motors moved the electric commercial van BrightDrop under the Chevrolet brand. (Doc. General Motors

JAKARTA - General Motors (GM), the largest automaker in the United States, remains committed to increasing production of electric vehicles, although some of its competitors reduce investment and cancel certain models. EV sales continue to grow, but some automakers have become hesitant about their initial predictions about the faster shift in consumer interest in the industry.

Recently, The Verge reported, quoted on August 30, that GM and Samsung SDI had signed a USD 3.5 billion deal to build an electric vehicle battery factory in Indiana, USA. The plant will have an initial capacity of 27GWh, which can be upgraded to 36GWh.

The plant is scheduled to start operating in 2026 but production of batteries at this plant is expected to start as early as 2027. Construction of the plant has begun.

The new plant will be located in Newest Indiana, a small community outside South Bend, on an area of 680 hectares. The factory is expected to create more than 1,600 jobs once completed. GM and Samsung will receive incentives from the local community in the form of 100 percent tax exemption over 10 years. In return, GM will pay infrastructure costs of 4.5 million US dollars per year for 10 years to cover the cost of waterway expansion, road repairs, and new fiber optic cables.

Once completed, the plant will produce prismatic cells and nickel-rich cylinders, which are different from the package currently used by the Ultium GM battery vehicle.

GM is currently building three other battery factories in the US with a total annual capacity of 140GWh: one in Lordstown, Ohio, which is already in operation; Spring Hill, Tennessee, which is also in production; and Lansing, Michigan. GM began working with Samsung SDI following the recall of a burning LG-made electric vehicle.

The factory is part of a number of new EV facilities that are expected to operate in the coming years, partly driven by tax incentives approved by the Biden administration.

Its competitors such as Ford have stated that three battery factories will allow production capacity of 129GWh per year. Volkswagen is also building a new gigafactory in Ontario, Canada, as well as several others around the world with a total capacity of 240GWh. Stellantis plans to build a new plant in Indiana, which will have an initial production capacity of 23GWh per year. And BMW will have a new plant in South Carolina with a production capacity of 30GW