General Motors (GM) and LG Energy Solution plan to begin commercial production of lithium manganese-rich (LMR) battery cells for electric vehicles by 2028 at a US facility.

These new cells aim to reduce costs while maintaining the range of future electric trucks and SUVs.

The LMR cells will feature a prismatic design, replacing the current pouch structure.

This change is expected to reduce the number of parts in the battery pack by over 50%.

Production will take place at one of GM and LG’s two Ultium Cells plants in Ohio and Tennessee.

GM is focused on reducing battery costs to match those of internal combustion engine vehicles, which is critical for increasing EV adoption.

Additionally, GM will offer lithium-iron phosphate-based cells as a lower-cost alternative to nickel-rich batteries.

These advancements could enable electric trucks to achieve over 400 miles of range on a single charge.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ Battery cost reductions becoming key competitive battleground

GM’s plan to reduce battery pack costs by $30 per kilowatt-hour in 2025 reflects a critical industry-wide trend toward achieving price parity with conventional vehicles.

Battery prices have already fallen dramatically from over $1,100 per kWh in 2010 to approximately $130 per kWh in 2025, an 88% reduction that has transformed the economics of electric vehicles 1.

Goldman Sachs projects prices will fall further to around $80 per kWh by 2026, the threshold widely considered necessary for EVs to reach price parity with gasoline vehicles 2.

This cost trajectory explains why automakers are aggressively pursuing new chemistries like GM’s lithium manganese-rich cells and Ford’s modular battery technology, as battery costs typically represent 30-40% of an electric vehicle’s total production expense.

The industry’s focus on both chemistry innovations and manufacturing scale demonstrates that battery cost reduction has become the central competitive battleground in the race to mainstream EV adoption.