Ultium Cells, the battery joint venture between General Motors and LG Energy Solution (LGES), plans to produce lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery cells for energy storage at its Spring Hill, Tennessee site from the second quarter of 2026.
The venture is putting $70m into converting production lines at the plant so it can make LFP cells designed for stationary energy storage systems (ESS).
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The changeover is set to bring back about 700 employees who were temporarily laid off in January 2026, when demand for electric vehicles softened.
The workforce is currently being retrained ahead of the planned start of ESS cell manufacturing in Q2 2026.
Ultium Cells president & CEO Injae Pahk said: “This announcement marks Ultium Cells’ first major retooling of the Spring Hill process equipment and reflects the company’s continued evolution as a diversified battery cell manufacturer.”
Under the agreement, Ultium Cells will supply LFP battery cells to LGES Vertech, the US-based energy storage arm of LG Energy Solution.
These cells will be incorporated into large-scale ESS enclosures intended for grid-level and data centre applications across North America.
The Spring Hill site will draw on LG Energy Solution’s experience in ESS production, including capabilities developed at its facility in Holland, Michigan.
LG Energy Solution is targeting global ESS battery production capacity exceeding 60GWh in 2026, with more than 80% of that capacity located in North America.
The Spring Hill plant will become part of a regional manufacturing network that includes sites in Michigan and Ontario, along with the joint venture with Honda, L-H Battery Company.
By the end of 2026, all facilities in this network are expected to allocate part of their output to the company’s JF2 LFP pouch cell designed for ESS use.
Energy storage systems enable electricity generated from conventional and renewable sources to be stored and deployed when needed, supporting grid stability and reducing infrastructure development timelines.
Ultium Cells said its manufacturing platform can accommodate multiple battery chemistries, allowing production to shift in response to changing demand.
Earlier this month, LGES announced that its Canadian subsidiary, NextStar Energy, held an opening ceremony for its newly built battery manufacturing facility in Windsor, Ontario.
Commercial operations at the plant actually began in November 2025, with production having already surpassed one million battery cells.
LGES claims NextStar Energy is Canada’s “first and only commercial-scale advanced battery manufacturing company.”
It was originally established as a joint venture with Stellantis, but the automaker completed the sale of its 49% stake in the company last month, citing mounting losses and the sharp slowdown in US battery electric vehicle (BEV) demand following the withdrawal of incentives by the US government last year.
This left LGES in full control of the company.
