The Department of Energy (DOE) announced on Monday that it had finalized a $2.5 billion loan to General Motors and LG Energy Solutions to build three battery manufacturing facilities in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan. The agency estimates more than 11,000 jobs will be created through this effort, which is meant to boost the adoption of electric vehicles as the Biden administration strives to hit its goal of EVs making up at least half of all vehicle sales by 2030.
One of the facilities that began production in August is fully unionized. Last week, workers at a Warren, Ohio, plant successfully voted to unionize with United Auto Workers by a vote of 710 to 16. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm considered the election a particular victory in creating more equitable jobs. “DOE is flooring the accelerator to build the electric vehicle supply chain here at home—and that starts with domestic battery manufacturing led by American workers and the unions that support them,” Granholm said in a statement.
The two other facilities will be located in Spring Hill, Tennessee, which is expected to open later next year and Lansing, Michigan, which will open in 2024. GM has its own goals for EVs and is hoping to begin selling light-duty vehicles that are solely electric by 2035, reports the Associated Press. The joint venture facilities between GM and LG are known as Ultium Cells and have been in the works for quite some time. The Department of Energy first announced plans to loan money to both companies in June.
That loan is part of the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) program, which will also be funding the Syrah Vidalia Facility, which processes key materials used in lithium-ion batteries. It’s part of a larger strategy put forth by the Department of Energy and the Biden administration to not only accelerate EV development but ensure that more crucial materials and components are manufactured domestically.
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