About two weeks ago, General Motors announced a massive investment into new V8 engines and EV components. The American automaker now announces another major investment in the form of a $650 million joint project with Lithium Americas Corporation in the Thacker Pass mine in Nevada. This is the largest known source of lithium in the United States and the third largest in the world.
GM’s plan is to extract more lithium with the help of Lithium Americas to secure the production of future electric vehicles for the years to come. According to early estimations, the lithium extracted and processed from Thacker Pass can support the production of up to one million electric vehicles per year. Lithium carbonate will be used in the Ultium battery cells in models such as the Chevrolet Silverado EV and Cadillac Celestiq.
The $650 million investment will be split between two tranches. The first one will be held until there is an outcome of the Record of Decision ruling currently pending in the US District Court, which is expected by the end of this year. The second tranche will be made into Lithium Americas US division. Lithium extraction in Nevada is expected to begin in the second half of 2026. A total of about 1,500 new jobs will be created – 1,000 in construction and 500 in operations.
"GM has secured all the battery material we need to build more than 1 million EVs annually in North America in 2025 and our future production will increasingly draw from domestic resources like the site in Nevada we're developing with Lithium Americas," GM CEO Mary Barra comments. "Direct sourcing critical EV raw materials and components from suppliers in North America and free-trade-agreement countries helps make our supply chain more secure, helps us manage cell costs, and creates jobs."
General Motors is currently producing electric vehicles in four factories – two Michigan plants, one Tennessee plant, and one Ontario plant. This new investment in Nevada comes after major projects in the supply chain for EV raw materials, processed materials, and components in California, Texas, Ohio, and Quebec.
