GM signs deal with MIT-spinout to reduce electric vehicle battery costs by 60%

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GM signs deal with MIT-spinout to reduce electric vehicle battery costs by 60%

PUBLISHED THU, MAR 11 202112:00 PM ESTUPDATED THU, MAR 11 20213:27 PM EST

Michael Wayland@MIKEWAYLAND

  • General Motors has signed a deal with a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinout for joint development of next-generation batteries for electric vehicles.
  • The tie-up is focused on new battery chemistry that’s expected to reduce the cost of the technology by 60% by mid-decade.
  • The companies plan to build a prototype battery production line in Woburn, Massachusetts.
Tesla Cybertruck GM signs deal with MIT-spinout to reduce electric vehicle battery costs by 60% 155-106753397-1603238683283-2022-GMC-HUMMER-EV-003

2022 GMC Hummer EV sport utility truck
GM

General Motors has signed a deal with a Massachusetts Institute of Technology spinout for joint development of next-generation electric vehicle batteries that are expected to cut the cost of the technology by 60%.

The tie-up with Singapore-based SolidEnergy Systems, which was founded by MIT grad Qichao Hu, is focused on new battery chemistry to reduce the size of the batteries while increasing an EV’s range. That then helps lower the cost of the vehicles.


As part of the deal, GM and SolidEnergy Systems plan to build a prototype production line in Woburn, Massachusetts, for a “high-capacity, pre-production battery by 2023.”

GM previously announced the second-generation of its EV batteries and platform, known as Ultium, would reduce costs for today’s EVs, such as the Chevrolet Bolt EV, by 60% by mid-decade.




“The Ultium platform was actually designed and built with change like this in mind,” Kent Helfrich, GM’s executive director of global electrification and battery systems, told CNBC. “We know battery technology changes really fast … so we had to build that type of flexibility and bandwidth into our platform.”

Officials declined to release financial details of the tie-up. GM’s venture capital arm initially invested an undisclosed amount in SolidEnergy Systems in 2015.

The new batteries feature lithium metal instead of lithium-ion like today’s EVs use. The switch changes the chemistry of the battery to enable higher energy density and longer range from a similar-sized battery or comparable range with a smaller battery.

Initial prototype batteries have already completed 150,000 simulated test miles at research and development labs at GM’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Michigan, according to the automaker.

Further development of the future batteries comes ahead of the automaker releasing EVS with its first-generation of Ultium battery cells later this year beginning with the GMC Hummer EV for $112,595.

The Hummer is part of GM’s plan to launch 30 new or redesigned EVs through 2025 under a $27 billion investment in electric and autonomous vehicles. GM also recently announced plans to exclusively sell electric vehicles by 2035.

GM’s announcement comes a day after a new report from Cairn Energy Research Advisors that said EV leader Tesla is expected to continue having the lowest costs in the EV industry through the end of this decade, with GM closing the gap.

Helfrich declined to specifically discuss those findings, but he said GM plans “to innovate faster than anyone in the space” and be “the world’s greatest partner in terms of developing solutions that are going to electrify the automotive industry.”


SOURCE: CNBC
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GM forms new joint venture to fast-track EV battery development

Jamie L. LaReau
Detroit Free Press

General Motors wants to sell electric vehicles that can travel 500 to 600 miles on a full charge in the near future.

To get there, it's partnered with lithium metal battery developer SolidEnergy Systems, which is based in Singapore, but has U.S. operations in Boston.

GM President Mark Reuss announced the new partnership Thursday at a Washington Post Live virtual conference where he also alluded to more EVs coming soon to Chevrolet and a transformation to GM's retail sales model and how consumers will buy EVs in the future.

As part of its joint venture with SolidEnergy, GM will build a manufacturing prototyping line in Woburn, Massachusetts, for a high-capacity, pre-production battery by 2023, Reuss said.

GM Ventures invested in SolidEnergy six years ago to research, develop and manufacture Li-Metal technology and AI-powered battery management software. Reuss said this new joint development agreement is the next progression of that ongoing collaboration.

The lithium metal battery GM develops with SolidEnergy will offer affordability and high performance, Reuss said. The prototype battery GM is developing with SolidEnergy is intended to apply to the next generation of Ultium, which GM is targeting for mid-decade. This is separate from the battery chemistry that will launch GM's initial Ultium-based products such as the GMC Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq SUV.

“Affordability and range are two major barriers to mass EV adoption,” said Reuss. “With this next-generation Ultium chemistry, we believe we’re on the cusp of a once-in-a-generation improvement in energy density and cost. There’s even more room to improve in both categories, and we intend to innovate faster than any other company in this space.”

Up to 500 miles
GM’s proprietary Ultium battery system will underpin the upcoming 2022 GMC Hummer electric pickup, due out this fall, as well as 29 other new EVs GM has promised to bring to market by 2025.

The Hummer can get 350 miles of range. The Chevrolet Bolt and Bolt EUV, an electric SUV-type vehicle, use batteries from supplier LG Chem. The Bolt EUV has 250 miles of range.

The Ultium system's chemistry allows the batteries to potentially go 400 miles of range, which is close to internal combustion engine range on a full tank of gas, he said.

Tesla Cybertruck GM signs deal with MIT-spinout to reduce electric vehicle battery costs by 60% 6af037f-6480-4f82-ba14-84559adb5848-GMUltiumCell03



“But we’re approaching conceivably 500 to 600 miles of range on the lithium metal batteries,” Reuss said.

The initial prototype batteries GM has developed with SolidEnergy have already completed 150,000 simulated test miles at research and development labs at GM’s Global Technical Center in Warren, Reuss said, demonstrating real-world potential.

To speed up bringing what it calls "Li-Metal battery" to market, GM is working with several innovative companies and making investments to achieve scale quickly, he said.

SolidEnergy said it shared GM's goal to make electric vehicles more accessible to everyone as quickly as possible and the Li-Metal battery will help achieve that goal.

"Because of the high energy density of lithium metal, it delivers a significantly longer driving range than today’s EV batteries. Our Li-Metal batteries charge quickly, too — up to 80% of battery capacity in just 15 minutes," said Qichao Hu, SolidEnergy Systems CEO. "Our technology makes these features available at an accessible price by enabling production using traditional lithium-ion manufacturing infrastructure. It’s very cost-effective and suited for large-scale production."

Changes to dealerships
Reuss said he and CEO Mary Barra have a strategic plan to transform GM into an all-electric car company over the next decade.

In part, it will involve a change in the dealership's role and how people buy cars. He did not provide further detail, but he said GM is working with its "dealer partners" on the changes and investments they will need to make to sell electric vehicles.

“The dealers who are participating in our transformation ... they realize the growth potential for the future," Reuss said. "You’ve seen what we’re doing with Cadillac and what we’re doing with Hummer and you’ll see some (new electric vehicles) for Chevrolet shortly."

GM will bring the Cadillac Lyriq SUV to market early next year and has revealed plans for more EVs in its luxury brand, including a hand-built ultra-luxury car called the Celestiq.

GMC will offer the Hummer pickup and reveal an SUV version of it next month. Customers can order the Hummer now directly from GM online, then select a dealership where they want to take delivery of it.

Beyond the Chevy Bolt EUV and Bolt EV, GM has not revealed any EVs yet for its volume brand.

Not all Chevy dealers sell the Bolt, and to sell the Lyriq and Hummer, Cadillac dealers and GMC dealers had to agree to certain investments. In the case of Cadillac, about 270 dealers took a buyout rather than make those investments to sell EVs.

"(EVs) will be a growth opportunity for dealers and it will also change how people buy vehicles and simplifyinghow people buy cars," Reuss said.

Earlier this month, Volvo said it would radically change its marketing and retail operations by moving all its vehicle sales online and going all-electric by 2030. Published reports said Volvo dealers will mainly offer test drives and do service and repairs with just about everything else around the vehicle purchase moving online.

Going all the way
Asked if he and Barra are betting GM's future on customers willingness to swap their internal combustion vehicles for electric, Reuss said, "It's a well-calculated bet."

He noted GM’s history of electric vehicle development goes back decades, including putting an electric car on the moon. Also, GM produced the EV1 sedan from 1996 to 1999. It was the first mass-produced EV from a major automaker. GM has made the Chevy Bolt since 2016.

Along the way, GM has learned a lot about batteries, battery integration and what consumers want, and ways to deliver EVs to market cost-efficiently.

"This is a long-lead capital business, you really have to have your intelligence and know the market better than anyone else to be successful," Reuss said. "We’ve cut our development times down to 26 months. We’ll be very agile ... able to flex our portfolios on what the market tells us, but we’ve definitely bet our future on electric vehicles and not hybrids. We’re going all the way and going as fast as we can and that’s the bet we have.”

SOURCE: Detroit Free Press
 
 




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