Production at the Ultium Cells plant in north-eastern Ohio will resume next Monday – with most of the temporarily laid-off workers set to return to the site, Reuters reports. In total, around 1,400 people are expected to work there again.
Cell production was halted in January 2026 due to declining demand for EVs. After a seven-month hiatus, the joint venture between GM and LG Energy Solution (LGES) will now restart manufacturing battery cells for the US carmaker’s electric vehicles. The restart comes as GM and LGES have aligned their North American battery capacities more closely with shifting demand. This adjustment is particularly evident at the second Ultium Cells plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, where the partners are investing $70 million to retrofit production lines. The goal is to manufacture LFP cells for stationary energy storage systems in the future.
However, the conversion in Tennessee does not signal a complete shift away from EV batteries. Ultium Cells describes it as a diversification of the site, with plans to produce cells for both stationary storage systems and electric vehicles in the future. Spring Hill is part of a broader strategy: LG Energy Solution aims to offset weaker-than-expected demand for electric vehicles by expanding its energy storage business. The company plans to increase its global production capacity for energy storage systems to over 60 GWh by 2026, with more than 80 per cent of this capacity located in North America.
