LG Energy Solution began making EV battery cells at its new Lansing, Michigan, factory on August 18, 2026.
That opening marks a major shift for American manufacturing. The United States made virtually none of its own battery cells until 2025. Now, new factories are coming online across the country.
The Lansing plant stands out because it serves two markets at once. Roughly half of its production will support electric vehicles. The other half will support grid energy storage.
That split also explains the event’s unusual political lineup. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, celebrated the opening. So did Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, a top official in the Trump administration.
The administration has eliminated the $7,500 federal EV tax credit. It also canceled more than $700 million in battery manufacturing funds. Yet Burgum praised Lansing as “American energy dominance in action.”
The politics may be strange. The factory itself represents something important: Michigan is becoming the center of America’s battery belt.
Lansing brings $2 billion and 1,700 jobs to Michigan: LG EV Battery Cells
LG Energy Solution invested more than $2 billion in the 226-acre Lansing facility for EV battery cells.
The plant currently employs about 900 people. At full scale, LG expects that number to reach approximately 1,700.
Those jobs cover more than assembly-line work. Battery plants need technicians, engineers, quality-control specialists, logistics workers, and maintenance teams. They also need people who understand chemistry, automation, software, and industrial safety.
According to LG, the EV battery facility will create opportunities for workers with different levels of education and experience. That matters because clean-energy manufacturing can spread economic benefits beyond a small group of highly specialized workers.
At full production next year, the factory should produce more than 35 gigawatt-hours of battery cells annually. That would make it one of the largest domestic battery-cell plants in the United States.
For scale, one gigawatt-hour equals 1,000 megawatt-hours. Therefore, 35 GWh represents a significant amount of stored energy. It could support hundreds of thousands of electric vehicles or large utility-scale storage projects.
The LG EV cells will ship to battery plants across the country. Some will go to LG’s Holland, Michigan, facility, where workers assemble cells into modules and complete battery packs.
The factory changed after GM left
Lansing’s battery plant began with a different plan.
LG and General Motors announced the facility in 2022 as part of Ultium Cells. The joint venture originally focused on batteries for GM electric vehicles.
However, GM sold its stake at the end of 2024. LG Energy Solution then became the sole owner.
That change gave LG more flexibility. Instead of using the entire site for EV batteries, the company adapted much of the plant to produce cells for stationary energy storage.
This was a practical move. The EV market remains important, but the energy-storage market is growing quickly. Utilities, solar developers, data centers, and businesses all need batteries that can store electricity and release it later.
In addition, storage avoids some of the political baggage attached to electric vehicles. Politicians who criticize EV incentives can still support batteries that strengthen the electric grid and reduce dependence on overseas suppliers.
That is the Lansing paradox. The plant supports electric transportation. Yet its grid-storage mission makes it easier for the current administration to celebrate.
Two battery chemistries, two different jobs
Lansing will produce two main types of lithium-ion cells.
NMC cells for Toyota electric vehicles
The EV side will use nickel-manganese-cobalt, or NMC, chemistry.
NMC batteries offer high energy density. In simple terms, they can store more energy in a smaller and lighter package. That makes them useful for electric vehicles, where weight and available space matter.
LG’s customer is now Toyota, not General Motors. Lansing-made NMC cells will support Toyota’s next generation of battery-electric vehicles, including the 2027 Toyota Highlander EV.
The cells will travel to vehicle and battery facilities around the country. Toyota can then assemble them into battery packs and install those packs in its vehicles.
This customer change also sends a useful market signal. Even without the federal $7,500 EV credit, automakers continue to build electric vehicles and secure battery supply.
The market is not moving in a straight line. EV sales, incentives, tariffs, prices, and consumer demand all affect production plans. Still, Toyota’s commitment shows that automakers continue to view domestic battery production as strategically important.
LFP cells for grid storage
The storage side will use lithium-iron-phosphate, or LFP, chemistry.
LFP cells typically store less energy per pound than NMC cells. However, they offer other advantages. They generally cost less, last through many charge cycles, and present a lower fire risk when properly designed and managed.
Those characteristics make LFP a strong fit for stationary storage. A grid battery does not need to move down the highway. It can occupy more space if that helps lower cost and improve durability.
LG will use Lansing-made LFP cells in storage systems for utility, commercial, and industrial customers. Contracted offtakers include Terra-Gen and Qcells. Other projects will support utilities such as DTE Energy.
That storage will help utilities save electricity when demand is low. Later, they can dispatch it when demand rises.
The U.S. Department of Energy explains how solar and storage work together. Solar panels produce the most electricity during the day. However, households and businesses often need the most power later in the afternoon and evening.
Batteries bridge that gap.
They can also reduce renewable-energy curtailment, support grid reliability, and provide backup power during outages. As Green Living Guy has explored in its coverage of using an EV as a power plant, batteries increasingly connect transportation, homes, and the larger grid.
Tesla’s Megapack 3 is also part of the story
Next year, Lansing is expected to supply Tesla’s Megapack 3 factory in Houston.
The agreement is part of a $4.3 billion LG-Tesla deal announced in March. Tesla plans to use Lansing-made LFP cells in its large-scale energy-storage systems.
This arrangement could create a more domestic supply chain for stationary batteries. LG will manufacture the cells in Michigan. Tesla will assemble the storage systems in Texas. Utilities and businesses can then deploy those systems across the country.
The deal also highlights a major weakness in the American battery supply chain. For years, U.S. energy-storage companies relied heavily on Chinese-made LFP cells.
Domestic production will not eliminate every supply-chain challenge. Companies still need lithium, graphite, manufacturing equipment, and other materials from around the world. Nevertheless, producing more cells in North America can reduce exposure to shipping disruptions, tariffs, and geopolitical conflict.
It also supports the closed-loop system that the clean-energy industry needs. Domestic cells, responsible battery reuse, and domestic EV battery recycling can eventually work together. When old batteries reach the end of their useful lives, recyclers can recover materials for new cells.
Michigan is becoming America’s battery belt
LG’s Michigan network now stretches from Holland to Lansing.
LG opened its Holland plant in 2012. It became the first U.S. EV battery plant. Lansing now adds a much larger production site to the state.
Across the border, LG’s Windsor, Ontario, operation began production in March 2026. That facility is the largest battery plant in North America.
Together, these facilities form a growing Great Lakes battery corridor. They connect cell manufacturing, pack assembly, vehicle production, research, shipping, and recycling.
Michigan’s policies also support the expansion. State law requires 2.5 gigawatts of battery storage by 2030. The target supports Michigan’s broader clean-energy goals and encourages utilities to plan for more renewable power.
That policy matters because solar and wind do not always produce electricity when people need it. Storage helps make clean power more flexible.
The national numbers show why this matters. U.S. battery manufacturing capacity grew by about 20 GWh in 2025. By the end of 2026, total domestic capacity could reach 96 GWh.
Meanwhile, U.S. battery-storage capacity grew from 4.7 GW in 2021 to 43.6 GW at the end of 2025. That is nearly a tenfold increase in four years.
AI data centers will push demand even higher. These facilities consume huge amounts of electricity. Therefore, utilities need new generation, stronger transmission, and more storage.
The political irony is impossible to miss
Burgum described the Lansing opening as proof of “American energy dominance.” His message focused on jobs, allies, and secure supply chains.
Those are legitimate benefits. The United States needs more domestic manufacturing. It also needs to reduce its dependence on Chinese batteries and other critical technologies.
Still, the administration’s policies make the celebration complicated.
The Trump administration ended the federal EV tax credit. It also canceled more than $700 million in battery manufacturing support. Those decisions make it harder for automakers and suppliers to build a stable domestic EV industry.
At the same time, the administration praised a factory that produces EV cells.
The difference is that Lansing also produces grid-storage cells. Storage supports utilities, businesses, national security, and data centers. It does not require buyers to purchase an electric car.
LG Vice President Devon Wilson summarized the bipartisan appeal this way: “No matter which side of the aisle you’re on, there’s a desire to have energy independence and to meet load growth.”
That may be the clearest explanation for the politics. EVs remain culturally divisive. Batteries for the grid are easier to frame as infrastructure.
Why the Lansing opening matters
The Lansing plant will not solve every American energy problem. It will not end overseas mineral dependence. It will not guarantee that every EV program succeeds.
However, it creates real capacity, real jobs, and real supply-chain options.
It also shows how clean technology can advance even when political support shifts. When EV policy becomes uncertain, energy storage can keep battery manufacturing moving. When solar production exceeds demand, storage can save that electricity for later. When utilities face new power demands, batteries can provide flexibility.
Michigan now sits at the center of that transition.
LG’s Lansing factory began as an EV project. It evolved into something broader: an industrial hub for electric vehicles, renewable energy, and grid resilience.
That is why the politics got weird. It is also why the factory matters.
