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The
company said Monday that it has a nonbinding agreement for the
sale to joint venture partner LG Energy Solution of South Korea.
The companies expect to close the sale by the end of March.
Financial details were not released Monday. But GM, which has
sunk about $1 billion into the Lansing factory, said it expects
to recoup its investment.
The company said it will rely on joint venture factories in
Warren, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tennessee, to supply factories
that make seven electric vehicles now on sale in the U.S.
Nearly all automakers in the U.S. have had to slow plans to
build electric vehicle and battery factories after EV sales
growth eased from huge growth in 2023.
Through September, U.S. new EV sales were up 7.2% to about
936,000, according to Motorintelligence.com. That’s slower
growth than the 47% increase in 2023. But EV sales this year
still are likely to surpass last year’s record of 1.19 million.
The EV share of new vehicle sales this year is 7.9%, up from
7.6% last year.
The 2.8 million square foot Lansing plant employs about 100
people and is on track to have about 1,700 workers, GM said. It
was to open this year, but its opening date now is unclear.
GM also announced Monday that it reached agreement with LG to
jointly develop prismatic battery cells for electric vehicles.
The rectangular cells can store more energy, reducing battery
sizes and cutting weight and cost compared with pouch cells GM
now uses.
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