The earliest NMC cells used roughly equal thirds of nickel, manganese, and cobalt. GM’s current “high-nickel” Ultium cells swapped out much of that cobalt for nickel, while adding aluminum as well. They use, said GM battery engineer Andy Oury, roughly 5 percent cobalt and 10 percent manganese, with the rest being nickel and aluminum.

The LMR cells, however, substitute manganese—which is cheaper and more globally plentiful—for some of the pricier nickel and virtually all of the cobalt. They are, Oury said, 60 to 70 percent manganese, 30 to 40 percent nickel, and only up to 2 percent nickel.

The new chemistry, in a second type of cell, will also use a new module format. Standardized Ultium NMCA modules for every vehicle were the right solution for GM to launch its current lineup of 12 different EV models, its execs said. Going forward, the company envisions using different chemistries for different purposes: NMCA for high-performance and its most capable models, now LMR for long range at lower cost, and LFP for its least expensive models.

Cheap Long-Range Electric SUVs and Trucks

So if LMR chemistry actually produces a cell that costs as little to make as LFP with greater energy density, that could be a game changer—including for North American competitiveness against China in the critical sphere of battery development and production.

“LMR will complement our high-nickel and iron-phosphate solutions to expand customer choice in the truck and full-size SUV markets,” said Kurt Kelty, GM’s vice president of battery, propulsion, and sustainability. It will, he said, “advance American battery innovation, and create jobs well into the future.”

A battery technician at the General Motors Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center in Warren, Michigan takes a chemistry slurry sample.

Photograph: Steve Fecht for General Motors

Specifically, LMR packs will lower the cost of some full-size EV truck and SUV models to bring their prices closer to those of their gasoline counterparts. That’s crucial to boosting sales of the full-size EV models, which have not so far reached the same volumes and market penetrations as those of GM’s compact and midsize EV crossovers.