GM & LG Gets $2.5 Billion Battery Loan From Department of Energy

On Monday, the US Department of Energy revealed a significant increase in domestic production of electric vehicle batteries. It is providing a $2.5 billion loan to Ultium Cells, a General Motors and LG Energy Solution joint venture that will produce the batteries for the automaker's new line of EVs. As part of GM's strategy to produce 1 million EVs annually by 2025, the money will aid in the development of three new battery plants in the US, one each in Lansing, Michigan; Lordstown, Ohio; and Spring Hill, Tennessee. In the upcoming years, US battery output is expected to increase significantly. The epidemic first hampered shipping, revealing the frailty of the world's just-in-time supply chains. The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 then linked the domestic raw material and final assembly content of an EV's battery pack to the prospective tax credit for that EV. For the credits of up to $7,500, an increasing percentage of the battery must be domestic each year. It's unlikely that either the automakers or their battery suppliers were caught off guard, though. A group of legislators advocated linking EV incentives to regional manufacturing in 2021 as part of a more comprehensive infrastructure measure that would have added an additional credit for vehicles produced by unionized workers. (Senator Joe Manchin's engagement with that bill resulted in its failure.) As a result, there have been numerous announcements of new battery factories recently. Three BlueOvalSK battery factories in Kentucky and Tennessee will house 11,000 new jobs, according to a September 2021 statement from Ford and SK Innovation. Toyota said a month later that it will invest $3.4 billion in US battery production. The same day, Stellantis disclosed that it has partnered with LG to build a 40 GWh/year battery plant that would be operational in the US by 2024. Volkswagen announced in July that it was exploring for US locations for closed-loop battery facilities with a combined yearly output of 40 GWh. In South Carolina, close to where it produces the majority of its SUVs, BMW announced in October that it will invest $700 million in an assembly plant for batteries. Additionally, Honda and LG signed a joint venture to construct a new 40 GWh/year facility in Ohio, which is already the location of numerous of that automaker's manufacturing facilities. As for GM, it has started a significant electrification initiative supported by a new common battery platform across all of its brands. The nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum chemistry Ultium cells, which are pouch batteries, are already used in modern EVs such the BrightDrop Zero 600 delivery van, the Hummer EV, and Cadillac's Lyriq SUV. But GM has a lot more EVs coming out soon, such an electric Silverado truck and a $30,000 Equinox EV, plus a number of less expensive EVs produced in collaboration with Honda and scheduled to be released in 2027. https://www.gadgetany.com/news/lg-display-oled-smart-tvs-will-only-use-oled-ex-panels/ Under the DOE's Advanced Vehicle Technology Manufacturing program, the loan was provided. The ATVM program, which dates back to 2008, was crucial to Tesla's early success, but other EV producers sponsored at the same time did not fare as well, and the loan program only about made it through the Trump administration. But now that US President Joe Biden is in office, promoting green manufacturing is once again a top goal for the country. [caption id="attachment_71552" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Image: businessworld[/caption] US Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm stated, "DOE is flooring the accelerator to establish the electric car supply chain here at home—and that starts with domestic battery manufacture led by American employees and the unions that support them." In order to fulfill the increased demand and support President Biden's objectives of widespread EV adoption and reducing carbon emissions from gas-powered vehicles, this loan will kickstart domestic battery cell production. https://www.gadgetany.com/news/lg-unveils-ultra-thin-vibration-speakers-for-cars/