General Motors today made the first lithium-ion battery for its upcoming Chevroler Volt at its new Brownstown factory.
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“This is an important milestone for GM – and a critical step in bringing the Chevrolet Volt to market,” said GM chairman and CEO Ed Whitacre at a ceremony to mark the job one.
Last August, the automaker announced a $43m investment to prepare the 160,000 sq ft facility to produce EV battery packs.The plant is part of a wholly-owned subsidiary called GM Subsystems Manufacturing.
In just five months, the Brownstown plant was converted from an empty facility to a production-ready battery manufacturing site. New machinery and specialised equipment were installed and three primary assembly areas completed: battery module pre-assembly, final assembly and the battery pack main line.
The Volt pack is made up of multiple linked modules and more than 200 cells. The initial assembly area is where the prismatic-shaped cells are processed and installed by flexible automated equipment into modules, which are then delivered to the battery pack main line.
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By GlobalDataThe battery pack main line area features an Automated Guided Cart (ACG) system that includes operations for thermal and electrical assembly, along with quality and dimensional checks. The main line is also where battery pack final testing, verification and packaging for shipment take place.
Initial battery production at Brownstown will be used to validate the plant’s equipment and processes and batteries will be sent to GM’s global battery aystems lab in Warren, Michigan, for testing. This spring, GM will begin shipping batteries to the Detroit-Hamtramck plant which will assemble the Volt for use in production validation vehicles.
Regular production at Brownstown and Detroit-Hamtramck is set to begin in the fourth quarter.
GM is investing $700m in eight Michigan facilities for Volt-related production, including $336m at Detroit-Hamtramck plant, which will benefit from battery research conducted at the battery lab in Warren; receive batteries from Brownstown; use tooling from Grand Blanc; take delivery of camshafts and connecting rods from Bay City; and dies, stampings and the Volt’s 1.4-litre engine-generator from three plants in Flint.
