Unlike most other so-called “traditional” automakers who are trying to go electric, General Motors seems to have figured out the secret sauce: whoever controls the batteries controls the future. And two promising electric models are about to benefit from GM’s battery advancements that should make cars cheaper to buy.
A new report from Bloomberg Businessweek goes deep into GM’s battery strategy, which has been to use the same battery cells and modules for every electric vehicle it makes and craft them all in-house.
That strategy has certainly had its hiccups, leading to a rough 2023 in particular, but the General has since sorted out many of those issues and used the strategy to scale up battery production while getting costs down. This is also why GM is approaching profitability with its EVs.
That was step one. Step two is branching out into different battery chemistries and configurations, as other automakers do. Among the fruits of that effort will be a lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery, much like Ford, BYD and other automakers use, in order to cut costs.
For anyone not fascinated by the intricacies of battery chemistry, that means cheaper cars. GM will use LFP batteries in a new version of the Chevrolet Silverado EV truck, as well as the revived Chevrolet Bolt EUV, GM battery executive Kurt Kelty told the magazine.
A Silverado EV with LFP batteries should offer 350 miles of range, Kelty said, down from the other variants’ 492 miles of range. But it will be $6,000 cheaper, he said.
The Silverado EV could use the help when it comes to cost-cutting. A gas-powered Silverado can be had in the $40,000 to $50,000 range. But the pared-down Silverado EV Work Truck (WT) starts at $55,000 and the current civilian version of the electric truck starts at $73,100. The RST First Edition I tested last year cost $96,000. If it can really cut $6,000 off those prices and offer a still-impressive 350 miles of range, it should be a much more solid deal.
2026 Chevrolet Bolt Rendered
(The magazine’s report offered little in the way of information about the new Bolt, except when the writer glanced at a “sporty-looking crossover” concept called the Funbolt.)
LFP batteries have emerged as an essential tool for getting EV costs down, both on the production side and for consumers. While they don’t have as much energy density—and thus, less range—than traditional lithium-ion batteries, they are less expensive to make. Think of them as the small, four-cylinder engines of the EV world; not every powerplant needs to be a top-shelf one. Tesla, some Ford Mustang Mach-E variants, Zeekr and various BYD models all use LFP batteries. More are coming across the industry.
Last year, GM confirmed it would discontinue the “Ultium” branding to introduce new battery options, including LFP units. At the time, Kelty said that going with LFP batteries would allow for simpler and cheaper pack production by slashing the number of modules in each pack by up to 75%. As he reiterated to Bloomberg Businessweek, that should translate to $6,000 off of every single EV it produces from one generation to another.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
