GM Back in Quebec With a Korean Battery Partner
General Motors has just announced it planned to build a $500-million cathode active material (CAM) plant in Bécancour, Que. Adding this Canadian province plant to its North American electric vehicle supply chain will help reduce reliance on battery materials imported from Asia. The automaker’s joint venture partner on the project is a South Korean battery material firm, Posco Chemical and it will help process material for GM’s Ultium batteries.
Producing CAM is one of the key operations in treating nickel, lithium and other key materials for use in EV batteries. Posco Chemical, a subsidiary of steelmaker Posco, will be the majority owner in the joint venture.
This new plant marks a return of GM to Quebec after a 20-year absence. Its Sainte-Thérèse Assembly (in the Montreal suburbs), where Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird muscle cars were built, closed in 2002.