GM to build $393 million EV battery materials plant in Quebec

General Motors plans to build a $393-million cathode active material (CAM) plant in Bécancour, Que., adding Canada to its growing North American electric vehicle supply chain that will reduce reliance on battery materials imported from Asia.

The automaker and its joint venture partner on the project, South Korean battery material firm Posco Chemical, announced the facility that will process material for GM’s Ultium batteries March 7.

“GM and our supplier partners are creating a new, more secure and more sustainable ecosystem for EVs, built on a foundation of North American resources, technology and manufacturing expertise,” said Doug Parks, GM’s executive vice-president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain.

Parks said Canada will play an “important role” in the company’s effort to develop a battery supply chain in North America, with the project receiving strong backing from the local, provincial and federal governments.

Producing CAM is one of the key steps in readying nickel, lithium and other key materials for use in EV batteries. The ingredients that make up CAM represent approximately 40 per cent of the cost of a battery cell, according to GM.

Posco Chemical, a subsidiary of steelmaker Posco, will lead the project as majority owner in the joint venture. Planning has been underway for months. GM announced it was working to finalize the joint venture with the chemical firm in December.

The GM-Posco Chemical partnership is part of the automaker’s broad plan to define the EV supply chain. In one of its first battery tie-ups, GM established a joint venture with LG Energy Solution in late 2019 to co-develop proprietary Ultium battery cells in the U.S.

The GM-Posco Chemical cathode processing center will supply Ultium Cells plants that GM and LG Energy Solution are building in Lordstown, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tenn., GM said in December. GM plans to open two additional Ultium plants in the U.S. by mid-decade but has not specified locations.

GM has formed a series of partnerships to source materials for battery cells, improve supplies of rare-earth materials and magnets for electric motors, develop silicon carbide solutions for power electronics within GM's Ultium Drive units, and recycle material scrap from battery cell manufacturing.

The CAM plant returns GM to Quebec after a 20-year absence. Its Sainte-Thérèse Assembly, which built the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird muscle cars in the Montreal suburbs closed in 2002.

GM Canada President Scott Bell said it was exciting to see Canada and Quebec take on a “key role” in the company’s emerging battery ecosystem.

“With this new processing facility in Bécancour, GM will help lead the EV battery supply chain while also launching Canada’s first full EV manufacturing plant in Ingersoll, Ont., later this year.”

Governments in Quebec and Ontario, as well as the federal government in Ottawa, have been actively courting battery processing and battery mineral mining investments as the shift to EVs accelerates.

GM’s announcement follows a similar plan from chemical giant BASF for a CAM plant disclosed on Friday. The German company is at an earlier stage of development, having purchased land, also in Bécancour, for a processing plant expected to open in 2025.

The automaker said it chose Quebec because of its low-cost, hydro-powered electricity grid, predictable environmental standards and logistical links, such as a nearby deep-water port. Access to Canadian battery mineral capacity also played a role, said David Paterson, GM Canada’s vice-president for corporate and environmental affairs.

Paterson would not share the plant’s planned capacity or square-footage, but said all of its production will be used to supply GM’s four Ultium battery cell plants, which will all be located in the United States. The cells will power the automaker’s next-generation EVs, such as its Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyric.

Construction on the new plant in Bécancour — located on the south side of the St. Lawrence River, directly across from Trois-Rivières — will begin immediately. GM said the plant is expected to employ 200 on a footprint that will also allow for future expansion.

The CAM plant is scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2025.

This report will be updated.