Prior to this year, ATVM had only issued three loans: $5.9 billion to Ford in 2009, $1.45 to Nissan in 2010, and $465 million to Tesla. The latest loan will be the first from the DoE's Loan Programs Office, under which the ATVM falls, to focus exclusively on battery manufacturing.
The DoE's financial assistance to GM is a"conditional commitment" that may take a couple of months to finalize, based on the timeframe of previous submissions and loan disbursements under the program., the Detroit Free Press reports the Ohio location will produce EV batteries for vehicles assembled in Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan, beginning next month.
The Free Press said that the Michigan plant will be part of a larger $7 billion manufacturing project in the state, which GM said will make Michigan an EV development and manufacturing hub.global EV sales to grow from 6.6 million in 2021 to 20.6 million by 2025. To meet those demands, the report said the US would need to produce in excess of 580GWh of batteries by 2030.in EV battery manufacturing capacity, with 44GWh of production annually.
Like semiconductors, the US government sees EV batteries as another critical resource that needs to be manufactured in the States. "We must seize the chance to make advanced batteries — the heart of this growing [EV] industry — right here at home," said Energy Secretary and former Michigan governor Jennifer Granholm. ®