GM is planning on opening an assembly plant for the battery packs that will be used in the Volt just south of Detroit.  The plant will create about 100 jobs for the town and will probably add more as more vehicles go to battery powered.  The plant will cost GM about $43 million.

GM is upgrading a current assembly plant to keep costs low.  The new factory off Interstate 75 in Brownstown Township, about 15 miles south of Detroit, will take batteries made by LG Chem in South Korea and assemble them into packs that will power the new Chevrolet Volt, said the person, who requested anonymity because GM hasn’t officially announced the plant site.

The Volt, due in showrooms by November of 2010, will be built at an existing GM factory that straddles the border between Detroit and the tiny enclave of Hamtramck. That plant now makes the slow-selling Buick Lucerne and Cadillac DTS full-size sedans.

The battery pack factory will be highly automated and won’t employ a huge number of people, but it will be able to weld the battery packs together quickly, GM officials have said.  Though Michigan has to be pleased with any new jobs at this point.  The motor capitol has lead the US with unemployment rates of over 15% partly due to the recession hitting the auto industry hard.