GM signs $19 billion battery materials deal with LG Chem

General Motors (GM) is serious about its EV ambitions.

The Detroit-based automaker plans to spend roughly $19 billion over the next decade to source critical materials for its EV batteries, teaming up with South Korean petrochemical giant LG Chem. 

• The contract is possibly the largest EV supply deal that GM has ever made.

Details: LG Chem will supply GM with more than 500,000 tons of cathode materials - including nickel, cobalt, manganese and aluminum - from 2026 through to 2035. The materials will be sourced from LG Chem’s battery cathode plant, which is currently under construction in Tennessee.

• The supply is expected to be enough to power five million units of EVs, each with a range of more than 300 miles.

Jeff Morrison, GM vice president of global purchasing and supply chain, said the “contract builds on GM’s commitment to create a strong, sustainable battery EV supply chain to support our fast-growing EV production needs.”

Zoom out: The GM-LG deal is part of a broader trend of strategic partnerships forming between automakers and material suppliers, as the industry scrambles to piece together a domestic supply chain compliant with the IRA’s EV subsidy rules. 

Among other notable agreements…

• Ford has signed long-term with multiple lithium suppliers.
• GM has already invested in a lithium producer and is eyeing more similar deals.
• Toyota has signed an agreement to source recycled battery materials from Redwood.