By Godson Umejiego, Correspondent USA

General Motors  and POSCO Chemical have announced plans to form a joint venture through which the parties will construct a factory in North America to process critical battery materials for GM’s Ultium electric vehicle platform. The joint venture will process Cathode Active Material (CAM), a key battery material that represents about 40 per cent of the cost of a battery cell. The location of the facility, which will create hundreds of jobs when it opens in 2024, will be announced later.

“Our work with POSCO Chemical is a key part of our strategy to rapidly scale US EV production and drive innovation in battery performance, quality and cost,” said GM executive vice president, Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, Doug Parks. “We are building a sustainable and resilient North America-focused supply chain for EVs covering the entire ecosystem from raw materials to battery cell manufacturing and recycling.”

“We are very pleased to participate in the global battery supply chain project with General Motors,” said the CEO of POSCO Chemical, Kyungzoon Min. “Through close partnership, we will innovate battery materials and contribute to accelerate the adoption of EVs based on our world-class product development, mass production capacity, and raw materials competitiveness.”

The new facility will supply the Ultium Cells LLC facilities GM and LG Energy Solution are building in Lordstown, Ohio and Spring Hill, Tennessee. Two more US-based Ultium cell plants are planned by mid-decade as GM drives mass adoption of EVs with high-volume Ultium-powered EVs, including a Chevrolet crossover priced around US$30,000.

GM and POSCO Chemical have signed a non-binding term sheet to create the joint venture and expect to execute definitive agreements soon.