The exterior of the 3.1 million-square-foot Ultium Cells factory in Lordstown is shown here. Ultium Cells, a joint venture of General Motors and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution, will mass produce battery cells for electric vehicles. The company is ramping up hiring through May...Staff photo / R. Michael Semple

LORDSTOWN — Ultium Cells plans at least to triple its number of employees this year as it gets closer to the targeted production launch in August.

The company, a joint venture between General Motors and South Korea’s LG Energy Solution to mass produce battery cells for electric vehicles, had 200 workers onboard for its still-under-construction factory in Lordstown at the end of 2021.

“We are ramping up hiring through May, as we plan to onboard an additional 400 team members through 2022,” Brooke Waid, spokeswoman for Ultium, said.

It’s planned to have more than 600 employees by the end of the year and hit its targeted projection of more than 1,100 employees by the end of 2023, Waid said.

The company is hiring across all positions: production associate, quality inspector, material handling, industrial maintenance, process engineer, quality engineer, facility engineers, and production and maintenance supervisors.

“We offer competitive pay, performance incentives, full benefits starting day one and tuition reimbursement for education toward a degree,” Waid said.

On the interior, Waid said process areas are complete and equipment is being installed. Some of the remaining work is for offices and employee support areas that are scheduled to be done by June, she said.

Production will start with about 20 percent of planned capacity. Installation of the remaining capacity will continue through 2023, she said. The facility will have multiple assembly lines.

The 3.1 million-square-foot, $2.3 billion plant is on about 158 acres adjacent to GM’s former assembly plant. It is the first of multiple battery-cell plants planned by Ultium Cells in the U.S. Another in Spring Hill, Tenn., is under construction and a third is planned in Lansing, Mich., on land leased from GM. The Lansing plant was just announced in January.

The Spring Hill plant has about 2.8 million square feet and is scheduled to open in late 2023. Site preparation on the approximately 2.8 million-square-foot facility in Lansing will begin this summer, and the plant is scheduled to open in late 2024, according to GM.

Lordstown, Spring Hill and Lansing will produce battery cells for GM’s growing list of vehicles powered by Ultium Cells, such as the Cadillac LYRIQ, which officially launched retail production for the 2023 model last week at GM’s assembly plant in Spring Hill.

rselak@tribtoday.com