GM, LG Chem plan Ohio EV battery plant

US automaker General Motors (GM) and LG Chem will build a new $2.3bn battery cell assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio, for battery-electric vehicles as part of a new joint venture.

The companies said today that groundbreaking for the plant is expected to take place in the middle of 2020.

The plant is expected to have an annual capacity of more than 30 GWh/yr, with flexibility for expansion.

The announcement follows GM's sale last month of its former manufacturing complex in Lordstown to Lordstown Motors for the production of battery-electric trucks.

At the beginning of this year, Cadillac revealed its first electric vehicle (EV), which was the first model derived from GM's future EV platform. GM plans to produce a new battery-electric truck by the fall of 2021.

The joint venture also follows GM's $28mn investment in its Warren, Michigan, battery lab, announced at the end of last year, to help with reducing development time and costs for electric batteries. GM also invested approximately $700mn in manufacturing facilities in Ohio in Toledo, Parma and Brookville.

The rise in battery production is expected to increase demand for nickel, manganese, cobalt and lithium among other metals that are used in their production.

By Jeremy Rakes