General Motors is “almost there” on developing an electric vehicle battery that will last one million miles, a top executive stated on Tuesday.
The automaker is working on next-generation batteries as well which are even more advanced than the new Ultium battery that it revealed in March, according to GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks, who was talking at an online investor conference.
He did not mention a timeline for introduction of the million-mile battery, but stated that “multiple teams” at GM are collaborating on such advances as zero-cobalt electrodes, solid state electrolytes and ultra-fast charging.
Current electric vehicle batteries generally last 100,000 to 200,000 miles.
Reuters reported exclusively in early days of this month that Tesla, in partnership with Chinese battery maker CATL, prepares to introduce its own million-mile battery later this year or early 2021.
CATL provides battery cells to other automakers, and has supply agreements in China with GM and its regional partner SAIC Motor.
GM revealed its Ultium advanced battery system in March. On Tuesday, it stated its $2.3 billion battery production joint venture located in Ohio with Korean partner LG Chem will be called Ultium Cells LLC.
GM and LG Chem are carrying out a variety of ways to decrease battery costs, Adam Kwiatkowski, executive chief engineer of GM’s electric propulsion systems, informed another online investor conference on Tuesday.
The partners are probing such initiatives as investing in mines, hedging metals prices and collaborating with metals refiners, he stated.
GM Chief Executive Mary Barra reiterated previously this year that the automaker aims to sell 1 million electric vehicles a year in 2025 in the United States and China.
