GM to close Detroit battery assembly plant, but not for reasons you might think

In Brief

GM is closing a artillery assembly works southbound of Detroit, a spokesperson confirmed to TechCrunch.

The Brownstown Battery Assembly Plant assembled artillery packs for Cadillac’s flagship EV, the Celestiq, and some electrical thrust units (the motors that powerfulness the car) and artillery packs for the Chevrolet Corvette E-Ray, a plug-in hybrid mentation of its celebrated sports car. Automotive News archetypal reported the closure.

The closure is not related to GM’s electrical conveyance strategy, the spokesperson said. Instead, GM leased the site, and the lease was nearing its end.

The employees and enactment astatine Brownstown volition beryllium moved to different GM facilities, though the institution would not corroborate which ones. 

Like galore automakers, GM’s electrification strategy was thrown a curveball aft the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the sweeping national instrumentality signed past year, repealed incentives to nutrient and merchantability EVs. 

Since then, the institution has pared backmost its nationalist comments connected EVs, though it hasn’t fixed up connected afloat electrification.

GM continues to nutrient a scope of EVs, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the limited-time-only Chevrolet Bolt. It besides continues researching caller artillery chemistries, including lithium-manganese-rich and sodium-ion, and it’s rolling retired a new $900 cardinal facility to velocity commercialization.

Subscribe for the industry’s biggest tech news