The South Korean company Samsung SDI announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the American corporation General Motors to build a joint venture in Indiana to produce traction batteries for electric vehicles. The project will require investments of $3.5 billion and will initially allow the annual production of batteries with a total capacity of 27 GWh.
Image source: Samsung SDI
The partners first announced their intentions to build a joint venture back in April 2023, as Reuters recalls. At that time, the amount of investment was mentioned in excess of $3 billion, and the design capacity of the enterprise was calculated at the level of 30 GWh of the total capacity of batteries produced annually. The Indiana facility was initially expected to begin mass production of traction batteries in 2026, but now 2027 is being mentioned in this context. In the future, the enterprise can increase its annual production to 36 GWh per year.
As GM Vice President Kurt Kelly noted, the Indiana plant will produce prismatic-type battery cells. Their appearance in the range of traction batteries used by GM will help improve the performance and reduce the cost of the concern’s electric vehicles. Last year it was noted that the Indiana facility would be able to produce both prismatic and cylindrical battery cells. In June of this year, GM management revised the forecast for the number of electric vehicles produced this year, reducing it from 300 to 250 thousand cars. This correction did not prevent the company from announcing the construction of a plant for the production of traction batteries in the United States.