General Motors is seeing a significant problem in the manufacturing of its prized electric vehicles, particularly as the company stopped its production due to the Ultium battery shortage. It is widely known that the Ultium cells are GM's special development batteries, but it is seeing a massive problem with supplying its different EVs with the right power cells they need.
This recent shortage and stop of production are hinting at possible delays for GM's future deliverables, and it does not only lie in the electric delivery vans but also its different brands and makes.
GM Faces a Halt on its EV Production Because of Battery Shortage
GM is seeing a halt on its electric vehicle production in its plant at Ingersoll, Canada because of a battery shortage issue to equip its EVs with the power cell it requires to run. According to The London Free Press, the CAMI plant in Ingersoll is known for creating GM's BrightDrop electric vans, first introduced at CES 2021 via its keynote speech.
The plant already faced stopped production as no batteries are coming from GM, and it is not only the electric vans that are affected by this shortage.
Sources claim that the root of this problem is a "bottleneck" in the raw materials needed to produce the Ultium batteries that are developed for all of GM's EVs. While GM is already working on developing these batteries, it would not be immediately available for plants to use on EVs.
It is expected that work for CAMI's 1,500 employees would resume by July 31.
Are Delays Coming for GM's Electric Vehicles?
According to Ars Technica, this stop production is a significant delay for GM's EV developments and may affect its future deliveries to customers and dealerships of the company's clean energy cars.
In the previous years, GM also hit a snag on its battery developments which significantly affected its production from different models like the Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, the BrightDrop vans, and more.
General Motor's EV Development
GM's electric vehicles are among the top most popular brands for clean energy cars, rivaling that of Tesla and Ford, with many future models coming. Its iconic large SUV is soon coming as an EV, and GM confirmed that this would be the Cadillac IQ which would be built under the renowned Ultium platform of the company.
It is also known that GM is ramping up its efforts to bring battery development to the United States, partnering with LG Energy Solutions for the technology. However, this partnership has seen a hindrance to expansion, as both companies canceled their supposed venture towards a new battery plant in the US, and this was potentially its fourth location in the country.
There were many problems with GM's battery development in the past which resulted in their EVs getting delayed or seeing only a few models delivered to customers. Nevertheless, the company is looking at massive obstacles to overcome to continue its production, and hopefully, continue where it left off to press on with its EV deliverables.
