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General Motors GM Sustainability
Reducing carbon emissions

Transforming a World-Class
Manufacturing Footprint

In this section

We are building our electric future by leveraging our existing manufacturing footprint as well as building new plants for battery cell production.

Our manufacturing investments in four Michigan manufacturing sites are expected to create

4,000 new jobs and retain 1,000 jobs in Michigan.

We plan to rapidly scale EV manufacturing. Globally, we are adding battery assembly/pack facilities to our existing sites in North America and China and converting some propulsion facilities to the manufacturing of drive units.

Since 2020, we have announced investments totaling more than $14 billion in 10 sites across North America to increase our manufacturing capacity in the region to more than 1 million EVs annually by the end of 2025. This is a key step to deliver on our target to achieve carbon neutrality in our global products and operations by 2040.

We believe that leveraging established assembly plants for EV production reduces capital expenditures up to $1.5 billion per assembly plant versus building an all-new plant and enables us to go into vehicle production in less than half the time required of a greenfield plant.

GM is investing $7 billion in four Michigan manufacturing sites, significantly increasing battery cell and electric truck manufacturing capacity. This is the single largest investment announcement in GM history. The investment includes construction of a new Ultium Cells battery cell plant in Lansing, Michigan and the conversion of GM’s assembly plant in Orion Township, Michigan for production of the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the electric GMC Sierra, GM’s second assembly plant scheduled to build full-size electric pickups.

In 2021, we also announced the Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center, an all-new facility is expected to significantly expand our battery technology operations and accelerate the development and commercialization of longer-range, more affordable EV batteries. The Center, located at our Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, is slated to be completed in mid-2022. The latest addition of 50,000 square feet brings the Center to 85,000 total square feet as demand for EVs increases.

Investing in an All-Electric Future

(Projects completed, in progress or announced through the first quarter of 2022 in the United States as examples of our transformation)

By the end of 2025, GM plans to have more than 1 million units of EV capacity in North America. This is in addition to more than 1 million units of EV capacity in China over the same time frame.

Battery Cell Manufacturing1

Lansing, Michigan

New $2.6 billion plant to supply battery cells to Orion and other GM assembly plants.

Factory ZERO

Detroit Hamtramck, Michigan

Retooling of existing manufacturing facility, representing a $2.3 billion investment.

Electric Motor Component Plant

Lockport, New York

Renovation and new equipment installation, a $154 million investment.

EV Truck Assembly

Orion, Michigan

Retooling of existing manufacturing facility through a $4 billion investment.

Die Casting Foundry

Bedford, Indiana

More than $51 million invested to support drive unit castings for Silverado EV.

EV Assembly

Spring Hill, Tennessee

A $2.3 billion retooling of an existing manufacturing facility.

Battery Cell Manufacturing1

A $2.3 billion investment to supply batteries to the Spring Hill assembly plant.

Battery Cell Manufacturing1

Lordstown, Ohio

A $2.3 billion investment to mass-produce Ultium battery cells.

  1. Built through Ultium Cells LLC (an equally owned joint venture with LG Energy Solution)

Factory ZERO: How Our Future Looks

Walk through the doors of Factory ZERO in Detroit, Michigan, and you’ll not only see the launchpad for GM’s multibrand EV strategy but also GM’s low carbon future. From sourcing renewable energy to power the all-electric vehicles it will produce, the retooling of this 36-year-old facility is reflective of the company that GM is becoming.

SUSTAINABLE

Reused or recycled a wide range of materials that came out of the facility during conversion.

  • Roads on the plant site are made from crushed concrete from the old floor.
  • All operations are expected to be powered by sourcing 100% renewable energy for electricity by 2023.
  • The in-plant fleet of forklifts, tuggers and Seegrid AVs is powered by hydrogen fuel cells–a first for a GM plant.
  • Treated stormwater will be used in cooling towers and a fire suppression system.
  • A 16.5-acre wildlife habitat is home to monarch butterflies, foxes and turkeys.

electric

All Factory ZERO EVs will be built on the Ultium Platform, the heart of our EV product strategy. Among the vehicles that are expected to call the plant home:

  • 2022 GMC HUMMER EV pickup, which began production in late 2021
  • 2024 GMC HUMMER EV SUV
  • Chevy Silverado all-electric pickup
  • GMC Sierra all-electric pickup
  • Cruise Origin

INCLUSIVE

Our target to bring everyone along on our EV journey has started here.

  • Redesigned employee experience for all plant employees incorporates newly developed orientations led by plant leaders and centered around GM behaviors.
  • Workspaces and gathering areas are designed to encourage a climate of collaboration among all groups and levels of responsibility.
  • Employees actively recognize and share success.
  • Site leadership and employees actively participate in an operational excellence project focused on actions to promote an inclusive environment.

competitive

The retooled facility is a model for future GM facility renovations.

  • Retooling requires only two-thirds of the capital required to build a greenfield plant.
  • GM projects that it will avoid up to $15 billion in capital costs by 2030 through the renovation of existing manufacturing facilities versus ground-up construction.
  • Through virtual tools and working in parallel with production engineering teams, manufacturing launch time is reduced from two years to less than one, as opposed to up to four years for greenfield planning and construction.