Production will be moved to Brownstown, south of Detroit, where the batteries for the Chevrolet Volt, Vauxhall Ampera and Cadillac ELR have been built since October 2010. It follows a recently announced $65m (£38.7m) investment in the plant, as part of a $449m (£268m) funding package for facilities in Michigan.

The redesigned 19kWh battery pack is 39kg (15%) lighter than its predecessor, and uses 192 lithium-ion cells made at the LG Chem plant in Holland, Michigan. General Motors said there is no drop in range as a result of the new battery, despite its reduction in weight.

Larry Nitz, executive director of GM global transmission and electrification engineering, said: ‘Using our in-house engineering and manufacturing expertise enabled us to deliver a battery system that is more efficient and lighter than the 2014 Spark EV without sacrificing range.

‘Our successful working relationship with LG Chem has allowed us to deliver a new battery system for the Spark EV that helps us to better leverage our economies of scale.’