Ultium Cells Will Make LMR Cells in Tennessee Beside Its Grid Storage Line, With One $1B Figure Covering Both
- Energy Storage News Storage Markets & Tariffs
Marin Holt
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- 7 minutes read
- Combined investment (LFP storage + LMR): $1B by 2030
- New jobs: 500
- LMR upgrade complete: 2028
- LFP storage cells since: June 2026
Ultium Cells, the joint venture of General Motors and LG Energy Solution, will upgrade its battery cell plant in Spring Hill, Tennessee, to make lithium manganese rich (LMR) prismatic cells for future GM electric vehicles. The company announced the plan in a Sept. 28 release. Work starts later this year and ends in 2028. The same plant began making lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells for grid energy storage in June 2026.
Ultium says the LFP storage program, the LMR program and facility improvements will reach a combined $1B of investment by 2030. The release does not split that figure between the two programs. WPLN in Nashville reported the LMR expansion alone at about $1 billion, with work finished in 2028. The two figures describe different scopes. Only the first comes from the company.
The expansion adds 500 jobs to a current workforce of 1,200. Ultium expects Spring Hill to be the first plant in the world to mass produce prismatic LMR cells. The company says the chemistry has the potential for 33% higher energy density than LFP at a comparable cost. WPLN reported the cells at about 65% manganese and 35% nickel. GM plans them for full-size trucks and SUVs with range upwards of 400 miles.
The Storage Line Came First
The plant’s recent history explains the order. Ultium announced Spring Hill in 2021 with 1,300 jobs and added 400 jobs in a 2022 expansion. Last October it temporarily laid off 700 workers as GM cut EV production. The layoffs came one month after the $7,500 federal EV tax credit ended.
In March, Ultium said the furloughed workers would return to launch a lithium battery line for energy storage systems, tied to data center demand. The release says those LFP cells go to LG Energy Solution Vertech customers. Electrive reported that Spring Hill will unite several cell chemistries and formats under one roof.
What the Release Does Not Say
Ultium gives no annual capacity for either line. It does not say how many storage cells Spring Hill ships today or which Vertech projects take them. It names no GM vehicle for the LMR cells. It gives no date inside 2028 for the first LMR cell output.
Why It Matters
Spring Hill now serves two markets with one workforce. Storage buyers get US-made LFP cells from a GM joint venture, beside the LG Energy Solution plant in Lansing that started LFP production for storage in August. The open question is how the two lines share floor space and capital once LMR work starts. The combined investment for the two programs and facility improvements will reach $1B by 2030. Storage customers get no separate number for the line that serves them.
Critical Perspective
Ultium puts one $1B figure on the storage line, the LMR line and facility improvements through 2030. It does not split that sum. In August, LG Energy Solution gave its Lansing LFP plant a full-scale rate of 35 GWh a year. Ultium gives no GWh figure for the Spring Hill storage line. Spring Hill laid off 700 workers last October and brought them back in March for the storage line. If GM truck demand pulls hard on LMR cells after 2028, which line gets the floor space and the capital first?
Sources
- Ultium Cells: Ultium Cells to Upgrade Spring Hill Operations to Produce LMR Prismatic Battery Cells (Sept. 28, 2026)
- WPLN: GM plans to produce cheaper long-range EV batteries in Tennessee (Oct. 6, 2026)
- Electrive: report on the Spring Hill LMR retrofit (Sept. 30, 2026)
- CleanTechnica: Ultium Cells to Bring LMR Prismatic Battery Cell Production to Tennessee for Future GM EVs (Oct. 19, 2026)
