GM dedicating North America Ultium EV battery materials processing factory

General Motors and POSCO Chemical have announced plans to form a joint venture through which they 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% 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.”

The new facility will supply the Ultium Cells LLC facilities that 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.

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

BorgWarner has agreed to acquire the electric vehicle solution, smart grid and smart energy businesses of Hubei Surpass Sun Electric (SSE). The transaction has an enterprise value of up to RMB 410 million (approx. $59.36 million).

Headquartered in Xiangyang, Hubei province, China, SSE’s electrification business supplies patented electric vehicle charging solutions to customers in China and more than 70 other countries. SSE says it has delivered over 50,000 charging points and has led the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of more than 250 charging station sites. SSE’s charging and electrification capabilities in China are expected to complement BorgWarner’s existing capabilities in Europe and North America, the companies say. SSE’s 2022 revenues for the electrification business are expected to be approximately RMB 180 million (approx. $26.06 million).