GM Reveals Next-Generation EV Platform Built Around Cheaper, Denser LMR Batteries

General Motors has unveiled its next-generation electric vehicle platform, a fourth-generation architecture that aims to change future GM electric vehicles along with their batteries, motors, electronics and manufacturing processes. The platform is designed for high-volume segments, and GM says it will bring lower production costs, longer range and ultimately lower price tags for consumers, a direct answer to the affordability problem that has slowed EV adoption since the federal tax credit ended.

The core of the platform is lithium manganese rich battery chemistry, an area GM has invested in heavily. LMR batteries offer up to 33 percent more energy density than lithium iron phosphate batteries, and they are lighter, smaller and cheaper to manufacture at roughly the same cost. Combined with revamped electric drive units, better aerodynamics and reduced weight, GM believes the package will deliver 20 percent more driving range per kilowatt-hour of battery capacity.

The new drive units and electronics also help shed weight and size, using 40 percent fewer components than current hardware. Fewer parts means simpler assembly, fewer failure points and lower cost, all of which feed the same goal: electric vehicles that compete with gasoline cars on price without depending on subsidies. Road-going LMR vehicles are not ready yet, so the platform is a forward-looking bet, but it shows where GM thinks the next EV cost breakthrough comes from.