GM invents pioneering LMR battery

General Motors and battery partner LG Energy Solution have announced they will begin rolling out pioneering lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries in 2028.

The batteries are said to be cheaper to make, while also offering 33 per cent higher energy density than the very best lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) cells.

It’s thought the new battery pack will be another piece in the puzzle that will see the price of EVs drop below those of combustion-powered cars.

The technology first came to light in the 1990s but was initially hampered by issues concerning battery life and voltage decay. However, with those barriers now cleared, the American car giant says the new tech will pave the way for new EVs that will boast a long range at a lower cost.

With a ute like the current Chevrolet Silverado EV Extended Range, GM predicts an LMR battery will provide a range of more than 644km along with “significant battery-pack cost savings”. This could see the full-size pick-up’s price come in at a fraction of the $US75,195 currently charged for a truck powered by a nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) power pack.

Announcing it will be the world’s first car-maker to offer LMR prismatic cells, GM says the considerable cost savings come from a simpler battery design and a different chemistry. Instead of the usual 85 per cent nickel, 10 per cent manganese and 5 per cobalt mix of an NMC battery, an LMR battery employs 35 per cent nickel, 65 per cent manganese and virtually no cobalt.

It’s the inclusion of expensive cobalt that has been driving up the cost of batteries, with 73 per cent of it sourced from the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as China, Russia and Canada.

GM says the rectangular-shaped prismatic cells offer greater efficiency when it comes to packaging compared to pouch cell types, while reducing total battery pack components by 50 per cent, further reducing costs.

GM says it’s worked with LG to develop new semi-conductors and coatings, while also utilising particle engineering and other innovations, to achieve what the US car-maker claims is the right energy density and arrangement to keep the LMR cells stable. The end result is a battery that matches the lifespan of GM’s current-gen NMC cells.

It’s thought GM will begin rolling out prototype EVs powered by LMR cells as soon as this year, in the build-up to pushing the new battery tech into mass production in 2028.

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