GM is betting its Ultium batteries will lead the automaker to EV dominance

General Motors as soon as led the world in auto gross sales, and nonetheless, with some exceptions, leads the U.S.

Now the automaker hopes to change into a frontrunner in electrical automobiles on its residence turf and past.

The Detroit firm has made large investments in EV expertise in a guess that its new Ultium platform — consisting of batteries, motors, software program and different parts — will assist it to outpace competitors from legacy automakers and numerous start-ups and finally change Tesla because the No. 1 EV maker.

The automaker unveiled its Ultium EV platform in March 2020 and as is delivering the primary automobiles constructed round it this 12 months.

At the center of the Ultium platform are GM’s batteries. They have been developed in partnership with LG Energy Solutions, a division of the Korean conglomerate LG Corp.

The batteries use a extremely uncommon chemistry that reduces costly and tough-to-source cobalt by 70%. That transfer, the corporate says, will assist push battery pack prices beneath $100 per kilowatt-hour — generally thought of to be a vital threshold for EVs to be aggressive with inside combustion engines.

GM’s system for managing its battery pack can be completely different from rivals. The Ultium platform permits GM to run battery cells with completely different chemistries in the identical pack, so components of the pack could be changed as time goes on.

It’s improvements like these that GM says will make it a frontrunner in EVs in North America by 2025. Tesla dominated the U.S. market in 2021.

But competitors from different automakers is stiff. And there are a lot of extra challengers on their method, from nearly each nook of the world.

Watch the video to be taught extra.