General Motors and POSCO Chemical have announced plans to form a joint venture to 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.
The new plant will supply the Ultium Cells 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.
POSCO Chemical produces high-capacity Ni-rich cathode materials and low-expansion anode materials for EV batteries, and has a set of technologies such as NCMA cathode, silicon anode and materials for solid-state battery.
