‘Ultium‘ was to become a jack-of-all-trades for General Motors’ electric vehicles and, thanks to its flexibility, could be used in any electric car. However, four years later, GM wants to diversify its batteries. “We’re moving from a single-source, single-form factor, single-chemistry to a multi-chemistry, multi-form factor, multi-supplier strategy,” said Kurt Kelty, VGM’s vice president of battery.
“What we’re going to do going forward is really optimise for each vehicle.” GM . It is a modular battery system in which the large-format pouch cells can be arranged vertically or horizontally in the battery pack, enabling ranges of up to 400 miles (644 kilometres).
The US carmaker has already transitioned from its original Ultium battery cells, co-manufactured with LGES using nickel-manganese-cobalt chemistry, to other battery types and chemistries. The automaker in the US using technology licensed from CATL. Meanwhile, General Motors confirmed at an investor meeting that the company is on track to produce and distribute about 200,000 electric cars for North America this year and reach profitability on a production or contribution margin basis by the end of this year.
The electric portfolio currently includes affordable long-range models such as the , luxury electric vehicles such as the and high-performance electric vehicles such as the , and GMC Sierra EV. The Cadillac Vistiq and should also hit the road in the coming months. The return of the is planned for.