GM Walks Away From $3.5B Battery Factory, Leaving Samsung SDI In Full Control

The two companies’ joint venture in Indiana is dead, but Samsung SDI still wants to build batteries there.

By: Iulian Dnistran

Aug 11, at 3:06am ET

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The joint venture between General Motors and Samsung SDI for a brand-new battery factory in Indiana is dead.
Samsung SDI bought GM’s 49.99% stake in SynergyCells, making it the sole owner and operator of the upcoming facility.
The battery maker said it will assemble cells and modules for energy storage systems when the factory is up and running.

General Motors and Samsung SDI have ended their joint venture to build batteries in a new factory that’s being constructed in Indiana.

The battery maker said it bought GM’s 49.99% stake in the $3.5 billion SynergyCells joint venture in light of the market changes that appeared since the partnership was inked in 2024, “including the slower-than-expected growth of EV demand.”

The Indiana factory was originally designed to build prismatic cells for GM EVs. Now, it will churn out cells for energy storage systems.

Photo by: InsideEVs

After the ownership change, the upcoming factory, which is expected to go online next year, will be Samsung SDI’s first independently operated battery production base in North America. The two companies’ initial agreement said the Indiana plant would churn out nickel-rich prismatic cells for GM’s upcoming electric cars, which are different from the pouch cells that GM uses right now.

Now, though, Samsung SDI said it will start assembling batteries for energy storage systems (ESS) to respond to the rapidly growing stationary energy storage market in the United States.

“While reflecting recent market changes, this acquisition decision is to continue the strategic partnership with GM,” said a Samsung SDI official. “We will continue our commitment to an electrified future with the partner, while utilizing the plant to proactively respond to the fast-growing ESS market in the U.S.”

Despite the joint venture between the two companies being a thing of the past, Samsung SDI has signed a new agreement with GM to jointly develop a next-generation prismatic battery cell for potential future EV applications. The battery specialist added that the new factory in Indiana could potentially produce prismatic cells jointly developed with GM.

All of this means that General Motors has quietly backed away from developing nickel-rich prismatic cells. Meanwhile, the automaker is still invested in developing lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic cells with LG Energy Solution, which are more affordable than traditional nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells, and promise to undercut even lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells.

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Compared to pouch cells, prismatic cells can be easily stacked, and they can be easily integrated into cell-to-pack or cell-to-body designs, where battery packs no longer have multiple modules made from individual cells, increasing energy density and lowering costs.

Back in 2024, General Motors sold its stake in the battery cell plant in Lansing, Michigan, to LG Energy Solution. That said, the automaker still operates several battery facilities across the U.S.