GM Will Dump The ‘Ultium’ Branding To Rethink How It Does Batteries: Exec

• GM is ready to ditch the Ultium model title amid a broad shift in battery technique, an government instructed Bloomberg.
• GM will proceed utilizing underlying batteries and expertise platforms, but in addition incorporate LFP and nickel-rich prismatic cells.
• A brand new Battery Cell Improvement Heart goals to speed up R&D.

When Normal Motors launched the Ultium electrical car platform and battery system 4 years in the past, it mentioned that this plan—one frequent structure and household of modular batteries for all future fashions—would underpin hundreds of thousands of EVs for years to return. It could additionally, in principle, imply GM may make sufficient batteries at scale for EVs to turn out to be extremely worthwhile. 

However truly scaling up has been a nightmare. Now, GM desires to kill the Ultium model title, whereas maintaining the underlying tech, and alter its method in the direction of batteries.

That element comes from an interview with former Tesla government and GM’s present battery chief Kurt Kelty in Bloomberg. And in addition to abandoning a reputation that hasn’t actually caught on, Kelty mentioned these strikes imply large adjustments for GM’s battery sport. 

Presently, GM’s fundamental battery accomplice is LG Vitality Resolution. Now, Kelty mentioned the automaker plans to include completely different battery chemistries and ranging cell shapes to tailor them to explicit fashions. GM’s present Ultium packs energy a dozen fashions, from the $35,000 Chevy Equinox EV to the $100,000 GMC Hummer EV, simply in several sizes.

That is more likely to change for future fashions.

In accordance with Kelty, there is a “important” change coming to GM’s battery plans that will likely be revealed on the Investor Day Presentation later as we speak. Meaning ditching the one-type-fits-all philosophy and tailoring battery packs to particular person fashions, one thing Tesla and BYD have been doing for years. That will embrace utilizing the present pouch cells for some fashions, however probably utilizing the easier-to-assemble prismatic cells for others.

GM EVs at present are outfitted with nickel-cobalt-manganese-aluminum cells made by the three way partnership with LGES. Now it plans to diversify. The automaker is in talks with Japan’s TDK Corp to supply lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries within the U.S. utilizing tech licensed from CATL. 

The next-gen Chey Bolt EV will journey on the Ultium platform, however it’s going to use LFP batteries, as has been introduced beforehand. (Though initially, it could not use U.S.-made packs.)

Ultium Cells LLC Battery Plant in Warren, Ohio

LFP batteries are cheaper to supply than nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) cells, boast higher thermal efficiency and last more. However they’re much less vitality dense and therefore extra appropriate for entry stage fashions, just like the rear-wheel drive Tesla Mannequin 3 and the Commonplace Vary Ford Mustang Mach-E.

To speed up these plans, GM will conduct battery R&D on the Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Heart at GM’s campus in Warren, Michigan and on the new Battery Cell Improvement Heart that will likely be formally introduced on Tuesday. The latter is predicted to be up and working by 2027 and collectively the 2 services will have the ability to develop new packs and get them prepared for manufacturing in 18 months.

GM can be constructing a brand new $3.5 billion battery plant in Indiana in partnership with Samsung SDI to develop nickel-rich prismatic cells.

Kelty mentioned all of that is meant to “considerably” scale back battery weight, drive down prices and make manufacturing much less advanced. GM final 12 months mentioned was abandoning its purpose of promoting 400,000 EVs by mid-2024. Its EV gross sales have been nowhere near that, however they’re bettering steadily. And this revised battery technique may assist it unlock a brand new part of mass manufacturing whereas doubtlessly bettering the vary and charging speeds of its EVs.

For all these challenges, together with software program points and shifting gross sales goalposts a number of instances, GM is doing comparatively properly in electrical gross sales. It simply posted one more consecutive quarter of EV deliveries and will shut the 12 months as America’s no. 2 electrical automaker behind Tesla.

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