General Motors and battery maker Microvast are teaming up to expand the next generation of batteries for electric vehicles and build a factory in the U. S. They work hard to make what they call special separators.
The two corporations announced the partnership on Wednesday, the plant and the progression of the generation of special separators will be funded through a $200 million grant from the U. S. Department of Energy’s battery fabric production and processing initiative. The U. S. government and $300 million from GM and Microvast for the program.
“We characterized it as a collaboration,” Sarah Alexander, a Microvast counselor, told the Free Press. “Most of the $300 million will come from Microvast. “
Separators are parts of the EV battery that are imperative for safety. The companies will work to expand the new generation of splitters that can aid EV battery safety, charging and life.
Alexander said the partnership will create 600 to 700 new jobs, most commonly at the new plant, though there will be new positions at existing Microvast and GM sites for the technology.
“GM owns some of the assets and studies and intellectual developments” that take place at its global technical center in Warren, Alexander said. So, some of the new jobs may end up at Warren.
Houston, Texas-based Microvast is leading the array of sites for the new plant, and Alexander said he has had discussions with “governments in several states” for tax incentives. Microvast compiled a “short list” of desired states to locate the new plant, but did not finalize it. He declined to call the states in the race, but said Michigan was not on the short list. However, he added that “no position is absolutely excluded. “
Microvast has 3 locations in the United States: Texas, Tennessee and Florida. Its batteries are incorporated into more than 30,000 vehicles, circulating in 160 locations in 19 countries, according to its website.
“We don’t have a direct presence in Michigan right now,” Alexander said. “But a lot of our consumers do. “
She said Microvast hopes to make a decision on where to build the new plant by the end of the year, start the structure some time later and put it into operation “sometime until 2024. “
“This collaboration with Microvast supports our ongoing efforts to expand a North American-focused electric vehicle supply chain and put everyone on one electric vehicle,” Kent Helfrich, GM’s chief generation officer and vice president of research and expansion, said in a statement.
Over the past year, GM has formed partnerships with electric vehicle parts suppliers as the automaker seeks to secure what it will need to move to a zero-emissions line by 2035.
In December 2021, for example, GM signed a deal with rare earth mining and Las Vegas-based manufacturer MP Materials to source original, U. S. -made alloys. U. S. and finished magnets for electric motors. As a result of this agreement, MP Materials will build a new plant in Texas that will create more than one hundred professional jobs.
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Contact Jamie L. LaReau: jlareau@freepress. com Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan.
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