General Motors to sell its stake in Lansing, Michigan, battery factory to LG Energy Solution

DETROIT (AP) — General Motors has reached an agreement to sell its stake in a nearly completed electric vehicle battery plant in Lansing, Michigan.

The company said Monday that it has a nonbinding agreement for the sale to joint venture partner LG Energy Solution of South Korea. The companies expect to close the sale by the end of March.

Financial details were not released Monday. But GM, which has sunk about $1 billion into the Lansing factory, said it expects to recoup its investment.

The company said it will rely on joint venture factories in Warren, Ohio, and Spring Hill, Tennessee, to supply factories that make seven electric vehicles now on sale in the U.S.

Nearly all automakers in the U.S. have had to slow plans to build electric vehicle and battery factories after EV sales growth eased from huge growth in 2023.

Through September, U.S. new EV sales were up 7.2% to about 936,000, according to Motorintelligence.com. That’s slower growth than the 47% increase in 2023. But EV sales this year still are likely to surpass last year’s record of 1.19 million. The EV share of new vehicle sales this year is 7.9%, up from 7.6% last year.

The 2.8 million square foot Lansing plant employs about 100 people and is on track to have about 1,700 workers, GM said. It was to open this year, but its opening date now is unclear.

GM also announced Monday that it reached agreement with LG to jointly develop prismatic battery cells for electric vehicles. The rectangular cells can store more energy, reducing battery sizes and cutting weight and cost compared with pouch cells GM now uses.