Ultium Battery JV to Add 500 Jobs in Tennessee

The GM-LG Energy Solution collaboration plans to start cranking out more efficient lithium manganese cells in 2028.
Sept. 30, 2026
2 min read
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Key Highlights

  • Ultium Cells to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in its Spring Hill, TN factory as the first plant to mass-produce lithium manganese rich (LMR) battery cells.
  • LMR batteries can deliver up to one-third more energy density than lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, highlighting the tradeoffs manufacturers face in battery chemistry.
  • Flexible battery production can help manufacturers scale efficiently, adapt to market demand and improve the economics of EV production.
Ultium Cells LLC
6abd28a3613ea6b8acd9b2ab Gm Ultium Spring Hill 1

The battery manufacturing joint venture between General Motors Corp. and LG Energy Solution will invest hundreds of millions of dollars in its Tennessee factory to make lithium manganese rich battery cells for the first time.

The expansion by Ultium Cells in Spring Hill, about 30 miles south of Nashville, is expected to add 500 jobs to the plant’s workforce of about 1,200 and be completed by 2028. Ultium leaders said the project and the recently launched production of lithium iron phosphate batteries for energy storage have a combined investment value of $1 billion through 2030.

Ultium’s LMR batteries are destined to go into GM vehicles and have an energy density that’s up to a third higher than LFP cells. GM executives have repeatedly pointed to the new chemistry as a crucial step in improving the economics of the company’s EV business, which they’ve scaled back significantly in recent quarters.

“Adding LMR positions us to leapfrog today’s more affordable chemistries and deliver lower costs with better performance,” Kurt Kelty, GM’s vice president of battery and sustainability, said in a statement. “This flexibility allows us to scale efficiently, reach more customers, and support GM’s long-term EV strategy and profitability journey.”

GM CFO Paul Jacobson earlier this month said putting LMR batteries into GM products will cut costs by “thousands of dollars per vehicle at the pack level.” Jacobson told the Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference that investing in LMR production – Ultium officials say the Spring Hill operation is expected to be the first in the world to mass-produce such cells – shows how EV progress is now “not about expanding the portfolio per se.”

“It’s really about going after the architecture, going after the makeup, going after the battery cell technology to bring down the cost,” Jacobson said.

GM and LG Energy Solution formed Ultium in 2021 and also jointly run a plant in Warren, Ohio. The Spring Hill site spans 2.8 million square feet and sits next to a GM assembly plant.

About the Author

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Geert De Lombaerde

Senior Editor

A native of Belgium, Geert De Lombaerde has been in business journalism since the mid-1990s and writes about public companies, markets and economic trends for Endeavor Business Media publications, focusing on IndustryWeek, FleetOwner, Oil & Gas Journal, T&D World and Healthcare Innovation. He also curates the twice-monthly Market Moves Strategy newsletter that showcases Endeavor stories on strategy, leadership and investment and contributes to other Market Moves newsletters.

With a degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, he began his reporting career at the Business Courier in Cincinnati in 1997, initially covering retail and the courts before shifting to banking, insurance and investing. He later was managing editor and editor of the Nashville Business Journal before being named editor of the Nashville Post in early 2008. He led a team that helped grow the Post's online traffic more than fivefold before joining Endeavor in September 2021.

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