GM and LG put $1 billion into Spring Hill for LMR cells, lifting the plant's tab to about $3.6 billion

General Motors and LG Energy Solution will spend $1 billion to retool their Ultium Cells battery plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, to make lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic cells for future GM electric vehicles, the companies said Tuesday. Work starts later this year and is due to finish in 2028, Reuters reported, adding that the expansion is projected to create 500 jobs. The companies did not say when cell output will begin.

The $1 billion figure comes from the announcement as relayed by Chattanoogan.com, which says the plant is expected to be the first in the world to mass-produce prismatic LMR cells, with 33% more energy density than lithium iron phosphate (LFP) at a comparable cost. InsideEVs reported that the cells are headed for GM's full-size trucks and SUVs, with more than 400 miles of EPA range, and that the first vehicles using them are expected in 2028.

What the "lower-cost cells" headline gets wrong

Read quickly, "lower-cost battery cells in Tennessee" sounds like LFP, the cheap chemistry China dominates. It is not. In July 2025, GM picked this same plant for low-cost LFP EV cells, with line conversions later that year and commercial production by late 2027, Electrek reported at the time. Tuesday's plan puts LMR in that slot instead, and Reuters noted that GM's battery chief has said the company may drop its LFP cell plan to focus on LMR. The LFP EV timeline for Spring Hill has effectively been replaced by a later LMR one.

LFP has not left the building, but it now serves a different customer. In March, Ultium said it was spending $70 million so Spring Hill could make LFP cells for energy storage, supplied to LG's storage unit for grid projects and data centers, Electrek reported. Reuters says the plant makes those storage cells today. The companies describe Tuesday's move as retooling and "diversifying" the site; none of the reports we read said the storage lines will stop.

The number behind the number: one plant, four plans

Adding up the announcements shows how often Spring Hill's job has changed. The joint venture launched in 2021 with more than $2.3 billion and 1,300 pledged jobs, then added $275 million and 400 jobs in 2022, according to the Chattanoogan account. Add March's $70 million storage retool and Tuesday's $1 billion, and the site's announced investment comes to about $3.6 billion, with 2,200 jobs pledged across three announcements.

Headcount has not followed a straight line. Electrek reported that 700 Spring Hill workers were furloughed in January and called back when the storage retool began. So the 500 new jobs are a 2028 promise on top of a workforce that has already been cut and restored once this year. The plant's original high-nickel EV cell output has been consolidated at Ultium's Warren, Ohio, plant.

For suppliers, contractors and service businesses around Maury County, that means about two years of retooling work before the new jobs show up. The first LMR trucks are not expected until 2028.

The stock

GM shares were down 1.1% at $79.75 at 12:53 PM ET, according to Nasdaq, giving a market value of about $70 billion. The stock sits between a 52-week low of $54.33 and a high of $91.85. A retool that finishes in 2028 does not change GM's near-term earnings math, and the shares traded lower on the day. For more on GM's position in the U.S. market, see our story on Cox's third-quarter sales forecast.

Sources: Reuters (via Yahoo Finance), Chattanoogan.com, InsideEVs, Electrek, Nasdaq.com. Share prices are delayed and intraday. This is market information, not investment advice.