Chevy Volt battery plant location to be announced this week

Chevy Volt battery pack - click above for high-res image gallery

Back in January at the Detroit Auto Show, then-CEO Rick Wagoner announced that General Motors would be building the battery packs for the Chevy Volt at a new plant to be located somewhere in Michigan. At the time, no one from the company would admit where the plant would be located although it was presumed it wouldn't be far from Detroit. The Volt will be assembled at the Detroit-Hamtramck factory and the bulk of the battery packs makes it logistically advantageous to limit the shipping distance. A few weeks back, a rumor surfaced that the plant would be in Brownstown Township south of the city.

We should be getting confirmation this week after GM's Bob Kruse announced on Friday that the company would be using its $105.9 million share of the battery grants announced this week to build the facility. LG Chem, which will supply the cells for the pack, will build a separate factory to produce those cells using a $151.4 million grant it received.