GM Lays Off 3,300 EV Workers As Battery Plants Idle Following Tax Credit Expiration

General Motors is laying off more than 3,300 electric vehicle workers across Michigan, Ohio, and Tennessee as the automaker slashes EV production following the expiration of federal tax credits. The cuts represent one of the most significant workforce reductions in the industry since the $7,500 EV incentive ended on September 30, 2025.

The layoffs come just one week after GM CEO Mary Barra told shareholders that electric vehicles “remain our North Star” during the company’s third-quarter earnings call, raising questions about the disconnect between GM’s public commitment to electrification and its actual manufacturing priorities.

Detroit EV Plant Cuts Production In Half

GM confirmed to the Detroit News that approximately 1,200 workers at its Factory Zero electric vehicle assembly plant in Detroit will be laid off indefinitely starting in January 2026. The facility, which currently operates on two shifts, will drop to a single shift, cutting production capacity by roughly 50 percent.

Factory Zero produces GM’s most expensive electric vehicles, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, GMC Sierra EV, Cadillac Escalade IQ, and GMC Hummer EV. The plant typically runs on two shifts to meet demand, but according to NBC News, the reduced schedule reflects “slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment.”

The Detroit plant had previously faced workforce adjustments earlier in 2025, but this represents the most severe production cut since the facility converted to all-electric vehicle manufacturing.

Battery Plants With LG Energy Solution Going Idle

Beyond the Detroit assembly plant, GM is temporarily idling battery cell production at two critical facilities operated through its joint venture with South Korea’s LG Energy Solution. The Ultium Cells plant in Warren, Ohio will see 550 workers laid off indefinitely, with another 850 facing temporary layoffs. In Spring Hill, Tennessee, 700 workers at the second Ultium Cells facility will be temporarily laid off.

GM told CNBC that “battery cell production at the Spring Hill, Tennessee and Warren, Ohio facilities will be temporarily paused beginning January 2026.”

The company anticipates resuming operations at both battery cell sites by mid-2026 and plans to use the pause to upgrade its facilities.

The timing couldn’t be worse for GM’s battery ambitions. The automaker has invested more than $2 billion in each of these facilities, betting heavily on vertical integration to control battery costs and secure supply chains. The pause in production suggests demand has fallen far short of expectations following the tax credit expiration.

Additional job cuts will hit two other Michigan sites. GM’s Pontiac Metal Center, a stamping plant that supplies parts for Factory Zero, will temporarily lay off 45 workers. Rochester Operations in New York, which makes electric vehicle battery cooling lines supplied to Factory Zero, will temporarily idle 74 employees. Both actions take effect November 17.

Tax Credit Expiration Triggers Industry Collapse

The September 30, 2025 expiration of the $7,500 federal EV tax credit has dramatically reshaped the American electric vehicle market. Congress eliminated the incentive through President Trump’s “One Big Beautiful Bill,” cutting short a program that was originally scheduled to run through 2032.

The tax credit’s removal created a brief surge in third-quarter sales as buyers rushed to purchase before the deadline, but industry analysts predicted a sharp decline would follow. According to Reuters, GM’s layoffs are “in response to slower near-term EV adoption and an evolving regulatory environment.”

A study from UC Berkeley, Duke University, and Stanford University projected a 27 percent drop in EV registrations without the tax credit. Germany experienced a similar sales collapse after ending its EV subsidies in 2023, offering a preview of what American automakers now face.

GM’s $1.6 Billion EV Pullback Charge

During its third-quarter earnings report in October 2025, GM disclosed a $1.6 billion special charge related to its electric vehicle pullback. The charge included $1.2 billion from EV capacity adjustments and costs associated with discontinuing next-generation hydrogen fuel cell development.

The company also confirmed it was ending production of the BrightDrop electric commercial vans in Canada, citing demand that was growing “far slower than expected.” The vans, which started at $67,925 for the smaller 400 model and $69,425 for the larger 600, failed to gain traction in the commercial fleet market despite GM’s aggressive marketing.

CFO Paul Jacobson acknowledged during the earnings call that near-term EV demand had “fallen down significantly,” though Barra insisted the company remained committed to electrification as its long-term strategy.

Competitors Also Retreating From EV Production

GM isn’t alone in scaling back electric vehicle operations. The industry-wide retreat following the tax credit expiration has claimed multiple casualties.

Honda ended production of the Acura ZDX after just one model year in September 2025, citing market conditions. The electric crossover, built on GM’s Ultium platform at the Spring Hill, Tennessee plant, required incentives reaching $30,000 off MSRP to move inventory. Production of the 2026 model year was cancelled before it even began.

Nissan halted production of the Ariya for the U.S. market, with no 2026 model year planned. Nissan told Electrive it was “pausing production of the MY26 ARIYA for the U.S. market and reallocating resources to support the launch of the all-new 2026 LEAF.”

Ford Motor Company has prioritized conventional truck production over electric vehicles following a devastating supplier fire in September 2025. The automaker openly stated it would focus on profitable gas-powered F-150s and Super Duty trucks while the all-electric F-150 Lightning took a back seat. Ford’s Model E electric vehicle division lost $1.4 billion in the third quarter of 2025 alone.

Rivian laid off approximately 600 employees in October 2025, the third workforce reduction in four months for the struggling EV maker. The cuts affected customer service, marketing, and sales departments as the company prepared for its make-or-break $45,000 R2 SUV launch in 2026.

EVXL’s Take

GM’s mass layoffs reveal the uncomfortable truth hiding beneath the company’s optimistic earnings rhetoric. When Mary Barra called EVs the company’s “North Star” on October 21, she was speaking to Wall Street investors who rewarded GM with a 15 percent stock jump. Just eight days later, the company quietly informed over 3,300 workers they’d be losing their jobs or facing temporary layoffs.

This isn’t GM’s first EV retreat in 2025. Back in April, we covered the company halting BrightDrop production in Ontario, laying off 500 workers amid weak demand for the electric commercial vans. That was an early warning sign that GM’s electrification ambitions exceeded actual market demand—even with the $7,500 tax credit still in place.

The timing of these latest cuts is particularly telling. The federal EV tax credit expired on September 30, and we extensively covered how the subsidy’s elimination would reshape the industry. Multiple studies predicted exactly what’s now happening: a collapse in demand once artificial incentives disappeared. What’s striking is how quickly automakers are responding. GM isn’t waiting to see if the market stabilizes—they’re idling $2 billion battery plants barely two months after the credit expired.

Compare GM’s actions to what we reported about Ford just last week. When Ford faced a supplier crisis, the company immediately prioritized gas-powered F-150 production over the electric F-150 Lightning. Both GM and Ford are revealing their true priorities when forced to choose: profitable internal combustion engines win every time.

The broader pattern is unmistakable. Rivian just laid off 600 workers in October. Honda cancelled the Acura ZDX after one model year. Nissan axed the Ariya for 2026. Lucid has been cutting jobs since 2024. Every pure EV maker or EV-focused division is hemorrhaging money without the tax credit safety net, while traditional automakers retreat to their profitable gas vehicle operations.

GM’s $1.6 billion EV pullback charge in Q3 tells the real story. That’s not a company committed to its “North Star”—that’s a company acknowledging it massively overbuilt capacity based on artificially inflated demand. The battery plant idling is particularly damning. GM spent billions on these Ultium facilities to vertically integrate battery production, betting that controlling the supply chain would be a competitive advantage. Now those plants are going dark for six months because there simply aren’t enough EV buyers to justify the output.

The cruel irony? GM’s overall Q3 earnings were excellent. The company beat Wall Street expectations, raised guidance, and saw its stock soar. But that success came from traditional vehicles, not EVs. When Barra says EVs remain the “North Star,” she’s really saying they remain the long-term aspiration while gas trucks pay today’s bills. And today, thousands of workers are discovering that aspirations don’t keep assembly lines running.

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