Published , by Sam Chandler
Published , by Sam Chandler
It is taking the combined efforts of business and government to help facilitate a shift to cleaner, renewable energy. The latest efforts being made out of the United States is via the Energy Department which is set to loan $2.5 billion dollars to a venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solutions. The joint venture will focus on constructing facilities used to create battery cells.
Reported on by David Shepardson of Reuters on July 25, 2022, the U.S. Energy Department plans to loan $2.5 billion to the joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solutions, known as Ultium Cells LLC. The manufacturing plants will be in Ohio, Tennessee, and Michigan and will oversee the creation of lithium-ion cells and, according to Ultium, will create “more than 5,000 new high-tech jobs”.
Back in 2009, the U.S. government bailed out General Motors. A report from Reuters from 2014 notes that the government spent “about $50 billion” to bail out the company after its bankruptcy, which resulted in the government losing $11.2 billion dollars.
More recently, President Biden attended the GM Factory Zero inauguration in 2021 where he credited GM CEO Mary Barra for “electrifying the entire auto industry.” Fred Lambert of Eletrek wrote an op-ed about how this is quantifiably incorrect, noting that “GM backed Donald Trump’s effort to curtail California’s right to implement stricter emission standards,” standards that would force General Motors to create more electric vehicles.
While this loan of $2.5 billion means that GM and LG are investing more than $7 billion into the battery cell plants, it’s also important to note the track record of General Motors. The company has also dumped its stake in Ohio-based EV start-up, Lordstown Motors. It would appear that with this government loan, Lordstown Motors has some large competition coming to the area.
Though the push toward cleaner, more environmentally friendly energy and vehicles is needed, it does come at various costs. Hopefully the new manufacturing plants will see GM deliver more than the 26 EVs it shipped in Q4 2021. Be sure to keep it locked to Shacknews as we bring you the latest on electric vehicle technology.