General Motors and LG Energy Solution will commercialize lithium manganese-rich (LMR) prismatic battery cells for future GM electric trucks and full-size SUVs. This new collaboration builds on an existing, longer-term, partnership between the companies focused on the development prismatic battery cell technology and related chemistries.
The collaboration will accelerate GM and LG Energy Solutions’ work through Ultium Cells, their joint venture which itself expects to begin commercial production of LMR prismatic cells in the U.S. by 2028. Here, the companies expect pre-production to begin at an LG Energy Solution facility by late 2027. The final production-design of these LMR battery cells will be validated at GM’s Battery Cell Development Center in Warren, MI, which is expected to open earlier in 2027, as well as LG Energy Solution’s facility.
Battery cathodes require materials like cobalt, nickel and manganese, with cobalt being the most expensive. LMR battery cells use a higher proportion of more affordable manganese, while also delivering greater capacity and energy density. GM and LG Energy Solution have said that their battery engineers have developed a new LMR prismatic battery cell that unlocks 33% higher energy density against advanced lithium iron phosphate (LFP) based cells at a comparable cost.
By integrating LMR battery technology and the manufacturing and space efficiency benefits of prismatic cells, GM aims to offer more than 400 miles (643 km) of range in an electric truck while significantly reducing battery pack costs against the high-nickel pack it uses today. The collaboration is not GM’s first activity around LMR batteries, however, having begun researching manganese-rich lithium-ion battery cells in 2015. Alongside its partners, the corporation highlighted that its engineers have worked in many ways to overcome LMR’s legacy challenges in performance and durability.