The earliest NMC cells used roughly equal thirds of nickel, manganese, and cobalt. GM’s present “high-nickel” Ultium cells swapped out a lot of that cobalt for nickel, whereas including aluminum as nicely. They use, mentioned GM battery engineer Andy Oury, roughly 5 % cobalt and 10 % manganese, with the remaining being nickel and aluminum.
The LMR cells, nevertheless, substitute manganese—which is cheaper and extra globally plentiful—for a number of the pricier nickel and nearly all the cobalt. They’re, Oury mentioned, 60 to 70 % manganese, 30 to 40 % nickel, and solely as much as 2 % cobalt.
The brand new chemistry, in a second sort of cell, will even use a brand new module format. Standardized Ultium NMCA modules for each automobile have been the best answer for GM to launch its present lineup of 12 completely different EV fashions, its execs mentioned. Going ahead, the corporate envisions utilizing completely different chemistries for various functions: NMCA for high-performance and its most succesful fashions, now LMR for lengthy vary at decrease price, and LFP for its least costly fashions.
Low-cost Lengthy-Vary Electrical SUVs and Vehicles
So if LMR chemistry truly produces a cell that prices as little to make as LFP with better power density, that might be a recreation changer—together with for North American competitiveness in opposition to China within the vital sphere of battery growth and manufacturing.
“LMR will complement our high-nickel and iron-phosphate solutions to expand customer choice in the truck and full-size SUV markets,” mentioned Kurt Kelty, GM’s vice chairman of battery, propulsion, and sustainability. It can, he mentioned, “advance American battery innovation, and create jobs well into the future.”
Particularly, LMR packs will decrease the price of some full-size EV truck and SUV fashions to carry their costs nearer to these of their gasoline counterparts. That’s essential to boosting gross sales of the full-size EV fashions, which haven’t to date reached the identical volumes and market penetrations as these of GM’s compact and midsize EV crossovers.
