General Motors is working towards becoming an electric vehicle leader in the next few years, and to that end, the automaker is developing a host of new technologies and products. That includes a new GM EV battery that’ll last a million miles, which, according to a top executive, is now “almost there.”
Chevrolet Bolt EV lithium ion battery pack
The news was announced earlier today by GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks during a call held with investors and members of the media. Parks did not provide a specific release date for the new GM EV battery.
To note, current electric vehicle batteries typically last between 100,00 and 200,000 miles before encountering significant performance degradation, although this can vary with use case and environment.
In addition to the million-mile GM EV battery, Parks also said that “multiple teams” at General Motors are currently developing other electric vehicle technologies, including ultra-fast charging technology, zero-cobalt electrodes, and solid state electrolytes. Rival automakers are also racing to develop similar long-life battery technology, as well as new charging systems.
Back in March, GM unveiled its latest Ultium battery line during the GM EV Day event. The Ultium GM EV battery can be stacked either horizontally or vertically, allowing for greater packaging flexibility, and range in size from 50 kW to 200 kW, the latter of which is expected to enable range-per-charge of roughly 400 miles, depending on the application.
Earlier this year, GM CEO Mary Barra underscored GM’s intentions to sell 1 million electric vehicles annually in the U.S. and China by 2025. To hit numbers like that, GM has entered into a $2.3 billion battery production joint venture with LG Chem, which will be called Ultium Cells LLC, as announced during the recent call. The joint venture is working towards lowering battery production costs.
GM’s currently offers just one all-electric vehicle, namely the Chevrolet Bolt EV. However, the company is expected to soon reveal several other EV products, including the Cadillac Lyriq crossover, as well as the GMC Hummer pickup truck.
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Typical. More happy talk for investors. No details.
You can listen to the call on the GM Investor relations page. I can’t find a transcript though.
https://investor.gm.com/events/event-details/citis-2020-car-future-symposium
The correct battery formulation is key to whether this is a major advancement or blunder for General Motors CEO Mary Barra given that the leading edge in battery technology featuring an Tellurium Lithium Ion battery formulation has 4X the storage capacity of a conventional Lithium Ion which translates to meaning someone who uses Tellurium Lithium could shrink battery size by 40-50 percent or have 4X the range of General Motors’ battery; imagine if an European or Japanese car company uses the new technology.. it will mean electric vehicles costing less than a similar electric vehicle from General Motors and will also have a greater range than a conventional Li-Ion battery.
More vague talk of some future release on some yet to be announced date. Talk is cheap
GM is making there EVs profitable before selling them.
When they launch there EVs they will be competitive but there is no reason to loose money on more EVs than to meet regulations when they could use that money to develop better cars.
GM is not like Tesla who is always BS’ing Wall Street and the media. I believe GM and wish them great success.
Great to hear GM is not that far behind.
In my opinion once every vehicle has Million Mile Batteries that can utilize V2G (Vehicle to Grid) it is Basically Game over for ICE vehicles, Coal, and Peaker Plants. If you think about it, an EV vehicle is basically a Rolling Battery Backup Server.
It can feed energy back to the Grid whenever throughout the Day and you won’t have to worry about Battery Degradation. This will be a complete Game Changer for our Energy needs.
If this becomes a reality, it will literally make Zero sense for an auto Maker to keep producing ICE Vehicles but even more importantly, it will make zero sense for the most part if Customers forego EV’s for ICE Vehicles.
I can only imagine the endless possibilities of every vehicle in the World having Million Mile Batteries and V2G Software.
Throw in Autonomy and EV vehicles will make the owner money. Might even be enough per month from selling Energy back to the Grid and from Autonomy Rides that the car might be paid for per month. It is Crazy just thinking about it.
Tesla is most likely in the lead for all of this but I am soooooo Happy to hear that GM isn’t that far behind. And if GM is close that would mean that most likely The VW group isn’t that far behind either.
Now I still believe that unless the Infrastructure around the World doesn’t keep Growing, EV’s are not for everyone just yet.
Much more work needs to be done to make EV’s for the masses.
No matter how quickly EV’s take off around the World I think there will still be Niche ICE vehicles. I cannot see Vette, Lambo, and say Ferrari be Full Blown EV vehicles. They will still offer Niche ICE options but will most likely be very pricey to help offset the Penalties those Companies will have to pony up in fines. That’s my opinion at least
I do not want V2G in my car because I want to be able to get in my car and drive whenever I want and not have to worry about it not being charged.
What we really need is to be able to charge 400+mi of range in less than 10 minutes and have that in a car that costs less than $30,000 for EVs to become the norm and cost less than $20,000 for almost 100% EV adoption.
@
Yes that is why V2G will be a Software that the owner of the vehicle has total control over. Some people might work from home. So you can collect money all Day long where the Rates are higher and then have the Grid Charge your vehicle over night at the House.
Some have Level 2 Charging at their place of work so they can give energy for maybe half of their shift lets say as they will still have Half a battery since they arrived at work on a Full Charge. You can check in at a Grocery Store and plug in and let the Grid take energy from your Car so you can get Paid while doing nothing but Shop. The possibilities are almost endless.
This will revolutionize our Energy sector. Think of the Money Car makers will make doing almost nothing.
As far as 400 Miles go, I think the Tesla Model S already has achieved that Number. And yes it will get to a time where Charging will take less than 10 Minutes. A Company called Atlis is stating they are very close to hitting that Threshold.
The infrastructure you describe will cost tens of billions of dollars to install nationwide. Who is going to pay for it? Chances are the electric company which will pass a surcharge on to the customer.
@Tigger
Who paid for all of the Gasoline Infrastructure we use today?
Private Companies that will want to make lots and lots of money as before with Gasoline.
One situation I wonder about are the classic automobile hobbyists. At some point, gasoline will be difficult to obtain. Big changes will occur in many industries like parts, fuel sources, etc. I realize that change came at the dawn of the automobile industry, too. It’ll be interesting to watch!
Gas being difficult to obtain is likely far off yet as it will take a really long time for near 100% US vehicle fleet adoption. Additionally, cars can be converted to run on propane or natural gas, which will likely be available for a very long time and since classic cars are typically driven infrequently and short distances, should work just fine for most.
Also, folks have already started to swap in electric motors into classic cars and it sounds as though the automakers may even offer kits, similar to crate motors.
GM acutely offers several EVs only 1 in the USA but in China GM offers several more Evs.
ICE is not fully going away. As prices get cheaper EV will continue to grow but it is still not for everyone.
People out in the country and even many urban dwellers who have to park in the streets and lots that will not have chargers will not be adopters.
Even in this day of cable and satellite digital TV we still have over the air broadcasts.
@C8.R
I agree that EV’s today are not for everyone. I have always said it will be when Charging Times come down to 10 minutes or less and when Battery Prices come so far Down that ICE will not be able to Compete. These so Called Million Mile Batteries are Basically the Beginning of the end of ICE though. The Infrastructure needs to keep building out.
Rural areas, large farmers, off road vehicles etc will generally be ICE.
The problem here is there is no way to refuel in the middle of no where. Moab has no power lines let alone chargers. You run out of power here no one has a Jerry can of volts for you.
Places Mexico. You get away from cities no electric in many areas. Most of everywhere south of San Diego is like that.
Where I go in WV I can go many areas where there are few gas stations let alone charging stations.
I live near an Amish Community there are large areas with no electric yet today.
According to SAE article after speaking to all the major automotive players EV and other wise they broke it down this way.
By 2030 1/3 ICE, 1/3 EV, 1/3 Hybrid. By 2049 EV was predicted to be 80% and ICE was at 20% if I recall correctly. Most of the main MFGs all had plans for some ICE vehicles till 2050 in some degree.
Things can always change due to laws, restrictions, regulations and discoveries. what the engineers predict Is reasonable and practical.
Good point, but all gas stations require electricity to operate the pumps.
I think once Customers realize the Total benefit to their everyday life that EV’s offer, it will hit that S Curve and there will be no going back. Just like when people realized what a Smart Phone could do for their everyday life. EV Tech will keep getting better and better the more they are being sold around the World. I am just Happy to hear that GM will be a Big Player in the Future. If you are a True GM fan like we are, we want them to succeed for another 100 Plus years and that means the Switch to EV’s
I get your point, but cable and satellite are quickly becoming dated technology and over the air seems (anecdotal comment here) to be maybe gaining some popularity. Streaming is the future and it is here now.
Well, Tom, not really. I live in a rural buffer area between Durham and Chapel Hill, in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. And I don’t have streaming because I don’t have high-speed internet. I have an old Frontier copper landline providing 1mb download DSL. Currently it’s my only option, unless I’m willing to pay Spectrum the $10,086 they quoted to run a cable from next door. So I’m stuck with that and Dish for now. Meanwhile, I have 36 PV panels on my south roof, a 2019 Chevy Bolt and a 240-volt charger in my carport. I’m sure streaming is the future, but it ain’t here. Not for tens of millions of us who’re unserved or under-served by internet providers.