Ultium Cells, the GM and LG Energy Solution joint venture, restarts EV battery cell production in Warren, Ohio next week after a seven-month shutdown, with about 1,400 workers. US EV sales rose 14.2% in the second quarter but remain 20.5% below a year earlier.
The battery plant that GM and LG idled in January is starting up again. Ultium Cells restarts cell production at Warren, Ohio next week, and will employ around 1,400 people once the lines are moving. Tom Gallagher, the joint venture’s vice president of operations, said most of the laid-off workers are returning.
Roughly 1,330 lost their jobs when the plant stopped in January. The shutdown was announced as six months and ran seven, with a small crew brought back in May to prepare the site.
The cause was policy rather than manufacturing. The $7,500 federal tax credit was withdrawn, buyers rushed to beat it, and the quarter that followed collapsed. US EV sales have since recovered to 247,226 in the second quarter, up 14.2% on the first, and still down 20.5% on the same quarter last year.
GM’s own brands are part of that recovery. Chevrolet sales rose 11.6% quarter on quarter and Cadillac 27.9%, which is the practical reason Ohio needs to make cells again.
