GM, POSCO to Invest in Expansion of EV Battery Supply Chain

DETROIT – General Motors Co. and POSCO Future M announced the second phase of their Ultium CAM joint venture Friday.

The investment, projected to exceed $1 billion, will include increased production capacity of cathode active material (CAM) in North America and a precursor plant for on-site processing of precursor cathode active material necessary to produce CAM. Site selection will be announced later. Currently, CAM and pCAM processing is highly concentrated in Asia.

“Increasing CAM production capacity and adding pCAM to our joint venture is another significant step in building a more secure and sustainable North America-focused supply chain to support GM’s fast-growing EV production needs,” Doug Parks, GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, said in a news release. “We started by establishing battery cell production in the U.S. From there, we have been working through the entire battery supply chain, all the way to raw material recovery. We’re building higher levels of vertical integration, driving expanded investment and helping create jobs across North America.”

GM plans to install 1 million units of annual EV capacity in North America in 2025, supported by four U.S. battery cell joint venture plants, including the Ultium Cells plant in Lordstown, Ohio, and looks to grow from there in subsequent years. The Ultium CAM joint venture will support production of about 360,000 Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC, Buick and BrightDrop vehicles annually in North America from 2025 to 2030, the company said.

“We are experiencing rapid growth of the EV battery materials market across North America. I believe our joint venture will fortify its position in the secondary battery material industry with this proactive decision to increase CAM production and bring pCAM production to North America,” said Kim Joon-Hyung, president of POSCO Future M.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.