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Posco Chemical and General Motors have inked a joint venture deal for electric vehicle battery supply in North America. For this project, the companies will be building a plant in the said region to allow the local production of EV materials.
Posco and GM publicly announced their plans on Thursday, Nov. 1. The facility is expected to be completed in 2024 and once the operation begins, the factory will make and supply battery cathodes to Ultium Cells LLC, a company owned by GM and LG Energy Solution, as per The Korea Herald.
Cathodes are key materials for the production of batteries for electric vehicles and this is the part that goes inside the plus sides of EV batteries. It was said that this part determines how powerful batteries can become and it makes up about 40% of the battery costs.
Based on the deal, Posco Chemical will provide nickel-rich cathodes to GM. The use of this type of material will certainly yield high-performance EV batteries.
Posco Chemical and GM’s joint venture is a strategic decision that was made at a time when the U.S. government is aggressively pushing for its eco-friendly mobility policy where it is aiming to replace at least 50% of the cars sold in the country with electric vehicles by 2030.
"Our work with POSCO is a key part of our strategy to rapidly scale U.S. EV production and drive innovation in battery performance, quality and cost,” General Motors’ executive vice president on global product development, purchasing and supply chain, Doug Parks, said in a press release. "We are building a sustainable and resilient North America-focused supply chain for EVs covering the entire ecosystem from raw materials to battery cell manufacturing and recycling,"
On the other hand, the chief executive of Posco Chemical, Kyungzoon Min, said he is delighted to be taking part in the project to build a global battery supply chain in collaboration with GM. ”We will innovate materials and lead the growth of the global eco-friendly mobility market together with General Motors,” he added.
Meanwhile, CNBC reported that GM declined to share the terms and details of its deal with Posco Chemicals. Thus, it is not known how much the companies are investing in the project and where exactly they are building the EV battery plant in North America.
