General Motors: Orion Assembly and Ultium Cells
Whitmer worked with legislators in 2021 to create the Strategic Outreach and Attraction Reserve (SOAR) Fund to recruit “critical industries” and megasite projects, a pot that has since grown to $2 billion.
The first award went to General Motors and its EV battery partnership with LG Energy Solutions for two major projects. One involves adding capacity to GM’s Orion Assembly plant in north Oakland County, converting it into an EV truck production center. The other is for construction of an Ultium Cells EV battery factory near Lansing on land adjacent to GM’s Delta Township Assembly factory.
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The battery factory is in progress and is expected to open in late 2025, a year later than originally planned.
Ultium Cells is expected to start production in early 2025.
Planned company investment: $6.5 billion
Promised state subsidy: $666.1 million to GM, Ultium Cells and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership
How much Michigan has spent: $517,326,524 at the end of the 2023 MEDC budget year
Additional incentives: Local tax break and an 18-year, tax-free Renaissance Zone designation
Hiring outlook: Orion Assembly workers have been transferred to other factories. Michigan officials said the new operation would retain 1,000 jobs and add 2,300 when at full capacity, but the state only requires 1,860 for the subsidy.
None have been hired during the construction phase, and a GM contractor told Orion Township officials in May that the factory will employ fewer workers than planned.
Ultium Cells projected up to 1,700 new hires when announced, but 1,340 are required for the subsidy. The factory had hired about 120 people as of early March. The company would not disclose to Bridge further hiring plans.
How the companies are doing: GM CEO Mary Barra said in May that the company’s EV division could be profitable by year-end, though earlier reports pushed that to 2025. GM’s EV issues go beyond the sales of autos: The launch of the Ultium battery platform also slowed the automaker, as it worked through quality and software problems.
What comes next: Orion Assembly was expected to produce EV trucks. The automaker says it is increasing its production flexibility to also build internal combustion and hybrid versions of the same models. GM has not said whether that plan will be used in Orion.
Ultium Cells production is expected to start in 2025, but original plans were for the factory to support Orion’s EV trucks.
Capacity of 36 gigawatt-hours would allow it to build 36,000 to 72,000 batteries per year.
In 2023, GM sold 75,800 EVs total.
