Editor’s note: This story has been updated.
LORDSTOWN, Ohio – U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna of California emphasized the need for the United States to continue to support electric vehicle technology during a Friday morning visit to Ultium Cells.
The visit to the battery manufacturing plant, which included a tour of the facility and a closed-door meeting with plant and labor leaders, was part of a “heartland tour” to highlight manufacturing, according to a media advisory in advance of the trip.
Production at the plant is down as much as 50% from 2024 levels, said Tom Gallagher, vice president of operations at Ultium.
Ultium Cells, which is a joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution, opened its Lordstown plant in August 2022. In December 2024, the plant produced its 100 millionth battery cell.
Last year’s elimination of a tax credit for the purchase of EVs by President Donald Trump and Congress preceded a layoff of some 1,300 Ultium workers in January.
About 650 workers remain on the job at the plant, Gallagher said. They include United Auto Workers Local 1112 members in the skilled trades, as well as the salaried team and engineers.
The elimination of the tax credit is “a total policy failure,” Khanna, D-17th, told reporters following the tour. Elimination of the incentive “took jobs away from people who voted for” Trump, he pointed out. Trump won Ohio and Trumbull County, where the Ultium Cells plant is located, in the past three presidential elections. He also won Mahoning County in 2024.
EV sales have stabilized to between 5% and 6% of the total industry, Gallagher said.
“We’ve seen over the course of the last 18 months levels as high as 12% of total vehicle sales being EVs,” he added. “We remain hopeful.”
“We need to get up to 15%,” said Khanna, a ranking member of the House Select Committee on Strategic Competition with China. In addition to restoration of the EV credit, Khanna said infrastructure to support EVs – as in charging stations – needs to be prioritized. “The biggest issue is range,” he remarked.
He also said Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd., a Chinese battery manufacturer, should not be able to take advantage of the Advanced Manufacturing Production Credit.
“A lot of great work has happened in the infrastructure space for charging,” Gallagher said. There are more than 245,000 fast chargers that GM vehicles have access to in the United States, “but more work is needed, especially in the center of the country,” he said.
Gallagher said he expects Ultium to begin bringing back laid-off workers sometime during the third quarter of the year, but no specific date has been shared as yet. During the pause, the current workforce has undertaken “extensive preventative maintenance” projects and upgrades to enhance plant capabilities.
“It’s really important that quality and safety are at the forefront of how we resume production in our factory, and so those teams are meeting and collaborating on the next steps for that plan, but we’re just not at a point to finalize that,” he continued.
Once those plans are finalized, the next step would be to communicate that to the plant’s workforce. He also was uncertain how much of the workforce might be brought back. About 700 are on temporary layoff, and another 600 are on indefinite layoff.
Gallagher also said company leadership has determined that all manufacturing related to EV batteries is being consolidated at Lordstown, and the Ultium plant in Tennessee will manufacture energy storage system batteries for LG.
During the visit, Khanna toured the production space and spoke with workers on the plant floor. Several were cautiously optimistic about prospects for the future.
Jason Gillis, who previously worked at the nearby former General Motors Lordstown plant before it closed, said he came to Ultium because he saw an opportunity. “At the end of the day, technology has to improve,” he said.
Another former GM Lordstown worker, Brayden Landis, transferred to Ultium after being in Indiana for about five years after the local plant’s closing and said he was happy to be able to come back home.
Though not happy about the current pause, “being in the auto industry for 30 years, we’ve seen slowdowns in the past,” he said.
Pictured at top: Ryan Dogan, second from left, formation part leader at Ultium Cells, shows a battery to U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna.