GM Forms Partnership To Develop Batteries Good For At Least 500 Miles Of Range

• Partnership is with SolidEnergy, based out of Singapore.

• They have an office in Massachusetts where GM will build a manufacturing line.

The stakes continue to rise as most large automakers have announced their intentions to fully move away from the internal combustion engine. Crucial to the success of the venture is battery development and technology. GM has just announced its new partnership with SolidEnergy, a lithium-metal battery developer.

GM Ventures first invested in the company six years ago and this new partnership is step next in furthering the development process. The goals are affordability, performance, and serious range.

“Affordability and range are two major barriers to mass EV adoption,” said GM President Mark Reuss, as reported by the Detroit Free Press. “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.”

GM’s current Ultium battery technology is capable of up to 400 miles of range. The next-generation lithium-metal batteries are rapidly approaching 500- to even 600 miles of range. So far, the initial prototype batteries developed with SolidEnergy have performed well. The next steps involve building a manufacturing prototyping line in Woburn, Massachusetts. According to Reuss, a high-capacity, pre-production battery should be ready by 2023.