GM’s New Investment Could Accelerate Production of Affordable Electric Vehicle Batteries
GM is relying on battery advancements to ensure the success of its Ultium EV program, aiming to simplify and reduce the cost of the technology. In pursuit of this goal, the automaker has increased its investment in Mitra Chem, a US-based battery manufacturer specializing in iron-based cathodes, through a recent funding round that raised $60 million.
“This is a strategic investment that will help further strengthen GM’s EV battery efforts, accelerate our work on low-cost battery chemistries like LMFP, and support our efforts to build a US-centric battery supply chain,” said GM Vice President Gil Golan.
Mitra Chem is more of a battery development company than a manufacturer. It uses artificial intelligence to “simulate, synthesize and test thousands of cathode models every month, ranging in size from grams to kilograms,” the press release states. The goal is to shorten the so-called learning periods, so that new battery formulas can be brought to the market faster. At the same time, it focuses on LMFP (Lithium Manganese Iron Phosphate) technology, which reduces dependence on rare minerals such as cobalt.
For all this, the company uses its own cloud platform, which is specially designed for battery cathode development. It can simulate everything from cathode synthesis optimization to cell durability and process scaling – in other words, most of the steps needed to bring new battery designs to market. “GM’s investment in Mitra Chem not only helps us develop affordable battery chemicals for use in GM vehicles, but also fuels our mission to develop… US-made iron-based cathode materials that can power electric vehicles, grid-scale electrified energy for storage and more, said Vivas Kumar, CEO of Mitra Chem.
GM is developing new battery technology on several technological fronts. In addition to its Mitra Chem investment, it is working with pouch and prismatic cells shaped as flattened boxes to reduce battery weight and volume. It also uses aluminum alloy anodes to reduce cobalt levels and is working with LG Chem to reduce and eventually eliminate cobalt and nickel from its batteries.
Other automakers are experimenting with different approaches. Toyota recently announced that it is developing electric cars with a range of more than 600 miles, while others such as Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen are investing in solid-state battery technologies. However, most current models are catching up to Tesla, which has four electric cars in the top 10, including the $47,240 Tesla Model 3 Long Range (358 miles).
