Key insights
- GM and LG's Ultium Cells is delaying the restart of its Ohio EV battery plant due to weak EV demand, impacting approximately 850 workers. While a small number of workers will return in late May, the broader resumption of operations is uncertain and dependent on market conditions. This slowdown reflects a pullback in EV manufacturing following the expiration of a federal tax credit, signaling potential headwinds for the EV sector and related supply chains.
By Kalea Hall
May 12 (Reuters) - A General Motors joint-venture battery company is bringing a small number of workers back to an idled electric-vehicle battery factory in Ohio this month, although plans for recalling hundreds of laid-off workers there remain uncertain.
GM and its partner on the factory, South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, in January idled the facility for six months in response to weak demand for electric vehicles. That put the timeline for the return of about 850 workers sometime in June.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the joint-venture Ultium Cells would not confirm to Reuters any schedule to resume broader operations at the Warren, Ohio, factory.
In a statement, Ultium said a “small number” of workers would return the week of May 25 for work “related to resuming operations later this year,” adding that the timing for resuming production would depend on market demand for EVs.
GM and other automakers pulled back on EV manufacturing following the expiration of a $7,500 federal tax credit in late September. While automakers continue to build and sell electrics, they have lowered their factory output to match Americans’ appetite for EVs.
The Ohio plant had about 1,330 workers as of October, when Ultium announced the January halt of production in Ohio and at a second battery plant in Tennessee. About 480 employees from the Ohio facility were laid off indefinitely, while 850 have been out of work since January.
On Friday, local media reported that company officials said they hope demand improves by the third quarter.
GM and LG called back hundreds of workers at the Tennessee Ultium plant to make battery cells for energy storage systems instead of EVs.