GM to build $500-million EV battery materials plant in Quebec

General Motors plans to build a $500-million cathode active material (CAM) plant in Bécancour, Que., adding Canada to its growing North American electric vehicle supply chain that will reduce reliance on battery materials imported from Asia.

The automaker and its joint venture partner on the project, South Korean battery material firm Posco Chemical, announced the facility that will process material for GM’s Ultium batteries March 7.

“GM and our supplier partners are creating a new, more secure and more sustainable ecosystem for EVs, built on a foundation of North American resources, technology and manufacturing expertise,” said Doug Parks, GM’s executive vice-president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain.

Parks said Canada will play an “important role” in the company’s effort to develop a battery supply chain in North America, with the project receiving strong backing from the local, provincial and federal governments.

Producing CAM is one of the key steps in readying nickel, lithium and other key materials for use in EV batteries. The ingredients that make up CAM represent approximately 40 per cent of the cost of a battery cell, according to GM.

Posco Chemical, a subsidiary of steelmaker Posco, will lead the project as majority owner in the joint venture. Planning has been underway for months. GM announced it was working to finalize the joint venture with the chemical firm in December.

The CAM plant will return GM to Quebec after a 20-year absence. Its Sainte-Thérèse Assembly, which built the Chevrolet Camaro and Pontiac Firebird muscle cars in the Montreal suburbs closed in 2002.

GM Canada President Scott Bell said it was exciting to see Canada and Quebec take on a “key role” in the company’s emerging battery ecosystem.

“With this new processing facility in Bécancour, GM will help lead the EV battery supply chain while also launching Canada’s first full EV manufacturing plant in Ingersoll, Ont., later this year.”

Governments in Quebec and Ontario, as well as the federal government in Ottawa, have been actively courting battery processing and battery mineral mining investments as the shift to EVs accelerates.

François-Philippe Champagne, federal minister of innovation, science and industry, said the CAM plant decision is a “home run” for Quebec that will reintegrate its economy into the global passenger vehicle supply chain.

GM’s announcement follows a similar plan from chemical giant BASF for a CAM plant disclosed on Friday. The German company is at an earlier stage of development, having purchased land, also in Bécancour, for a processing plant expected to open in 2025.

And Champagne promised the two plants would not be the last for Quebec, or Canada more broadly.

“I can assure you that there’s more to come. We have been clear from the get-go that we want to see from the mine to the recycling and everything in between.”

GM said it chose Quebec because of its low-cost, hydro-powered electricity grid, predictable environmental standards and logistical links, such as a nearby deep-water port. Access to Canadian battery mineral capacity also played a role, said David Paterson, GM Canada’s vice-president for corporate and environmental affairs.

Paterson would not share the plant’s planned capacity or square-footage, but said all of its production will be used to supply GM’s four Ultium battery cell plants, which will all be located in the United States.

All four of those facilities will be located in the United States, with the automaker having detailed plans for three and committed to another.

The cells will power the automaker’s next-generation EVs, such as its Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyric.

Construction on the new plant in Bécancour — located on the south side of the St. Lawrence River, directly across from Trois-Rivières — will begin immediately. GM said the plant is expected to employ 200 on a footprint that will also allow for future expansion.

The CAM plant is scheduled to begin production in the first quarter of 2025.