The LG Energy Solution-GM joint venture Ultium Cells facility in Warren, Ohio (Ultium Cells) A battery plant jointly operated by LG Energy Solution and General Motors in Ohio will resume production next week after a seven-month shutdown, as GM reshapes its North American battery strategy amid shifting electric vehicle demand.Battery cell production at the Ultium Cells joint-venture plant in Warren, Ohio, will restart next Monday, an LG Energy Solution official said, confirming a Reuters report. The majority of workers who had been temporarily laid off will return, bringing the plant’s workforce to about 1,400, Reuters reported, citing Tom Gallagher, Ultium Cell’s vice president of operations.The Ohio plant is Ultium Cell’s first manufacturing facility. It produces battery cells for GM electric vehicles and has an annual production capacity of about 35 gigawatt-hours.In January, Ultium Cells halted battery cell production at the Ohio facility as GM cut back EV production amid weaker demand. The JV had temporarily laid off about 850 workers and announced indefinite layoffs affecting hundreds more workers.The loss of a federal consumer tax credit worth up to $7,500 per vehicle in September 2025 had weighed on EV demand, adding pressure to automakers already struggling with slower-than-expected sales.The Ohio restart is also expected to lift LG Energy Solution’s overall plant utilization rate, which stood at 52.8 percent in the first half of the year, to above 60 percent in the second half.GM and LG Energy Solution also operate a battery plant in Tennessee through Ultium Cells. The partners, however, have shifted the facility toward producing batteries for energy storage systems, rather than solely focusing on EV batteries.Earlier this week, Samsung SDI said it would acquire GM’s 49.99 percent stake in Synergy Cells, their joint venture established to build an EV battery cell plant in Indiana, effectively ending GM’s participation in the project.Samsung SDI plans to take full control of the venture and use the Indiana plant to address a broader range of demand, including ESS and EV batteries. GM and Samsung SDI would continue to maintain their battery partnership, signing a joint development agreement for prismatic EV batteries.The moves suggest GM is recalibrating its battery manufacturing partnerships as it adjusts to slower EV growth.