DETROIT - The Ultium plant in Lordstown will be making batteries for the Cadillac Lyriq and GM Hummer EV General Motors CEO Mary Barra announced on Tuesday.

During a conference call with investors, Barra said that to meet demand, GM will transition from using imported cells in the two vehicles, to those produced at the $2.3 billion dollar Ohio plant.

Cells already being made in Lordstown will go first to the production of the Hummer, which already has orders reaching 90,000, according to Barra.

Lordstown-made batteries will then go to Cadillac Lyriq production, which Barra says has strong buyer interest. Orders are full for the 2023 model year.

Barra admitted that the launch of cell and battery pack production has been slower than expected, and GM now expects to produce 400,000 electric vehicles through the first half of 2024, instead of through next year as originally announced.

Saying that GM had an aggressive launch plan for Ultium Lordstown, Barra said the plant is the size of 30 football fields and will employ more than 1,000 people.

“Making sure we had all our people there and trained has taken a little longer than expected,” said Barra. “Also, this is the first facility that we're working with LG ES, and we're working together effectively to really leverage not only the expertise that LG ES has but what GM brings.”

“There's no one thing, but it has just taken a little longer to make sure that we're able to produce with quality,” said Barra who added that she is confident that GM will have a capacity of 1 million electric vehicles in 2025 in the U.S.

I'm very confident in the team and how they're working together. And I think we're in that ramp -- but because it's taken a little bit longer also from the battery pack assembly as well.

Barra said that next year as GM opens more Ultium plants in Lansing, Michigan and Spring Hill, Tennessee the batteries will also be used in Silverado, Blazer, and Equinox EVs for Chevrolet and some other models.