In a presentation to investors, GM's new vice president of battery, cell, and pack, Kurt Kelty highlighted the company’s vision for seizing battery leadership in the EV industry. Kelty is one of the outsiders that GM has recruited to shore up its EV capabilities in both hardware and software, coming to the company from Tesla.

Others include Mike Abbott, who was previously responsible for Apple’s cloud services division, Dave Richardson, who was Apple’s director of engineering for iCloud infrastructure, Baris Cetinok, who oversaw Apple services such as iCloud, FaceTime, and Siri, and new GM Executive Vice President global manufacturing and sustainability Jens-Peter Clausen, a Dane whose career started at Lego, before moving on Tesla and then Google.

Change of Direction

With so many new faces, it is no surprise that there is a dramatic change in GM’s EV strategy. “We have seen an incredible opportunity to create positive societal and economic impact at a truly iconic American company at scale,” Kelty explained. “We found a leadership team with a vision of an all-electric future and eager to embrace new thinking to have tough conversations and to make hard decisions in order to do what is right.”

The decision to jettison Ultium is a prime example. This is not just a matter of dropping GM’s signature EV brand name, but also the exclusive use of the modular LG Energy Systems-provided pouch-based lithium-ion battery technology in various configurations for all GM EVs.

Related:General Motors Slashes Battery Wiring by 90 Percent

That plan is replaced by a new strategy that shifts significantly toward Samsung SDI-supplied prismatic batteries for most applications and the strategic use of cylindrical cells for low-volume, high-performance models and for plug-in hybrid applications. The company's new battery roadmap is aimed at improving profitability, flexibility, and customer satisfaction.

In addition to shifting cell types, GM will also diversify its battery chemistry technology portfolio to include cells with higher levels of nickel, ones with mid-level nickel content, and nickel-free lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) cells.

New Development Facilities

GM will speed the shift to a variety of battery types and configurations by restructuring its battery manufacturing chain. Currently, the company can build sample cells in its R&D center and it can build cells in massive volumes in its battery plants. “For comparison, on an annual basis, the gap between R&D and production is about a million to one in terms of annual output,” Kelty said.

GM’s aim is to narrow that gap, reducing the risks associated with increasing production volume from very low levels to very high. “To narrow the volume between R&D and production, earlier this year GM began prototyping cells at our Wallace Innovation Center, helping define new product process technologies in cell plants,” said Kelty.

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“This center gives us the ability to build full-size prototype cells 100 amp-hours, 200-amp hours or bigger,” he continued. “This is a capability many can only dream of. This enables us to chart our own course to future battery technology allowing us to make and test sample cells more economically iterate and ultimately bring new technology to the market faster.”

Bridging the Gap

This facility will help GM reduce the cost of future cells while improving their performance, Kelty pledged. But it is only one step in bridging the chasm between prototype manufacturing and full-scale battery production.

“As impressive as this is still a learning gap between building dozens of full-size cells a day in prototype and  300,000 cells per day in one of our joint venture production plants. That's why we are excited to announce today that week will be building a battery cell development center at our global tech center in Warren Michigan. This capability really sets GM apart from our competitors.”

Related:GM CEO Mary Barra Reveals Simplified EVs for 2025

Following the 100-times increase in production capacity provided by the Wallace Innovation Center’s cell manufacturing line, the new battery development lab in Warren will provide another 100-fold jump in capacity for piloting new cell chemistries. “We can take more manageable steps and more quickly streamline processes and understand cost and identify issues that may come up in production. This increased capability can help us close the learning gap doing cell development and mass production while reducing times by up to a year from concept to launch of new battery technology.”

The center is scheduled to build its first batteries in 2027. “The battery cell development center will enable us to prove new concepts that can be shared with our manufacturing partners to accelerate their ability to provide production cells to us,” Kelty said. Additionally, this facility will make enough cells that GM can use them to supply early prototype vehicles for testing and validation, accelerating the vehicle development timetable.

Alternative Chemistries

These new cells will employ a variety of chemistries, which will make GM vehicles less expensive and more competitive, according to Kelty. “Chemistry is key driver for cost and also impacts form factor, range, safety, and energy density. As a result, the future GM battery roadmap will include high-nickel, mid-nickel and LFP cathodes.”

LFP chemistry is the key to lower-cost EVs in the near term, cutting $6,000 in cost per vehicle compared to nickel batteries, according to Kelty. “The plan is to enable fewer, larger modules in future battery packs reducing number of modules by up to 75 percent per pack while still achieving performance objectives.”

“In summary, GM is evolving to a multifaceted approach that should only help GM strengthen our position of producing more EV models in any other automaker with ability to leverage LFP and mid-nickel chemistry along with high-nickel we improve flexibility, meet customer demand, and improve EV profitability by expanding the use of prismatic cells,” he concluded.