GM-LG's restart date at Ohio battery plant uncertain

By Kalea Hall

May 12 (Reuters) - A General Motors GM.N joint-venture battery company is bringing a small number of workers back to an idled electric-vehicle battery factory in Ohio this month, although plans for recalling hundreds of laid-off workers there remain uncertain.

GM and its partner on the factory, South Korea’s LG Energy Solution 373220.KS, in January idled the facility for six months in response to weak demand for electric vehicles. That put the timeline for the return of about 850 workers sometime in June.

On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the joint-venture Ultium Cells would not confirm to Reuters any schedule to resume broader operations at the Warren, Ohio, factory.

In a statement, Ultium said a “small number” of workers would return the week of May 25 for work “related to resuming operations later this year,” adding that the timing for resuming production would depend on market demand for EVs.

GM and other automakers pulled back on EV manufacturing following the expiration of a $7,500 federal tax credit in late September. While automakers continue to build and sell electrics, they have lowered their factory output to match Americans’ appetite for EVs.

The Ohio plant had about 1,330 workers as of October, when Ultium announced the January halt of production in Ohio and at a second battery plant in Tennessee. About 480 employees from the Ohio facility were laid off indefinitely, while 850 have been out of work since January.

On Friday, local media reported that company officials said they hope demand improves by the third quarter.

GM and LG called back hundreds of workers at the Tennessee Ultium plant to make battery cells for energy storage systems instead of EVs.