Sources say Samsung SDI will join hands with General Motors for the first time to build a battery plant in the United States.
Thank you, Mr. Air, a netizen of CTOnews.com, for your clue delivery! CTOnews.com, March 5 (Xinhua)-- South Korean battery maker Samsung SDI and US car giant General Motors will build a joint electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant worth up to 5 trillion won (CTOnews.com Note: about 26.5 billion yuan) in the United States, according to Koreaherald. This will be the first cooperation between the two companies and a memorandum will be formally signed next Wednesday.
According to unnamed industry sources, the two sides are in the final stages of negotiations to determine the details of the agreement, such as the output of the joint electric vehicle battery manufacturing plant, the mode of investment and the location of the plant. The two sides are expected to start building joint plants at the end of this year and to start producing prismatic and cylindrical battery units in 2026.
The capacity of the joint plant is estimated to be between 30 and 50 gigawatt hours per year. The capacity of 50 gigawatt hours per year is enough to produce 600000 or more electric vehicles.
With regard to the joint project with GM, a Samsung SDI executive told Koreaherald that the company could not comment on matters related to customers.
According to reports, when LG Energy Solutions and General Motors stopped plans to build a fourth electric vehicle battery plant in the United States in January, industry insiders in the automobile and battery industry have pointed out that Samsung SDI is GM's alternative.
The partnership with GM is Samsung SDI's second partnership in North America, after the South Korean battery maker announced plans to build a $2.5 billion battery plant in Indiana with Stellantis in May last year. The Indiana plant is expected to open in the first quarter of 2025 with an annual capacity of 23 gigawatt hours.
The latest partnership between the two sides shows the trend of the battery industry to expand its customer base rather than relying on a single carmaker, as well as global carmakers' efforts to ensure the security and competitiveness of their future supply chains.
