GM ditches the Ultium battery solution, to increase profitability of its EV offerings

  • At a GM investment event, the automotive manufacturer confirmed that it will drop its one battery for all EVs strategy, Ultium, in favour of differing battery cells depending on the model.
  • The Ultium platform has used the generally more expensive nickel cobalt manganese batteries, which GM will now ditch what was supposed to be an all-in-one solution for all sizes of EVs.
  • GM will now use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells, which are relatively cheaper to produce and already used across other leading EV manufacturers such as Tesla and Ford, with other manufacturers such as Stellantis also rapidly adopting the cell type to cut costs.

GM rethinks its EV battery strategy

General Motors only introduced the Ultium nametag at the start of 2020, making it a relatively short-lived platform. Despite that, it found its way into a significant number of GM’s key electric vehicles, including the GMC HUMMER EV, Chevrolet Silverado EV, and the Cadillac Lyriq, just to name a few. The announcement to drop the platform was made by GM’s new Vice President of Battery, Kurt Kelty. Kelty has only held the role for eight months, but carries significant battery expertise, coming from an earlier stint as Tesla’s Senior Director of Battery Technology during a key growth period for Tesla: 2006 to 2017.

A couple of reasons have been given for canning the Ultium platform, with one being teething issues with the automated robots that help produce the Ultium NMC cells. Additionally, Kelty has said that the switch from NMC to LFP cells could reduce the costs of its future EV offerings by up to $6,000. This announcement came alongside an update on GM’s EV profitability, with the company noting that it is making ‘rapid progress’ towards reaching profitability on EVs – something which rival manufacturer, Stellantis, achieved earlier this year. Combined with the 200,000 EVs already built by the manufacturer this year, this new battery strategy could help push GM over this profitability barrier.

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Overall, GM’s decision to retire the Ultium platform is a strategic one. The cost savings GM hopes this will bring should pass down to consumers, making EVs more affordable and accessible, helping increase uptake. The dropping of the solution, however, is not to be confused with GM’s joint venture with LG Energy Solution, Ultium Cells, which will continue to produce EV battery cells under its current name, as well as the battery production deal between GM and Samsung SDI.

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