GM signs agreement with MIT-spinout to reduce EV battery costs by 60%

General Motors has signed an agreement with a subsidiary of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for the joint development of next-generation electric vehicle batteries that is expected to reduce the cost of the technology by 60%.

The link to Singapore-based SolidEnergy Systems, founded by MIT graduate Qichao Hu, focuses on new battery chemistry to reduce battery size and increase the range of an EV. This helps reduce the cost of vehicles.

As part of the agreement, GM and SolidEnergy Systems plan to build a prototype production line in Woburn, Massachusetts, for a “high-capacity pre-production battery by 2023.”

GM previously announced that the second generation of its EV batteries and platform, known as Ultium, would reduce the costs of current vehicles, such as the Chevrolet Bolt EV, by 60% by the middle of the decade.

“The Ultium platform was really designed and built with this change in mind,” Kent Helfrich, executive director of GM’s global electrification and battery systems, told CNBC. “We know that battery technology changes are very fast … so we had to integrate that kind of flexibility and bandwidth into our platform.”

Officials declined to disclose the financial details of the bond. GM’s venture capital group initially invested an undisclosed amount in SolidEnergy Systems in 2015.

The new batteries feature lithium-metal instead of lithium-ion as used in today’s vehicles. The switch changes the chemistry of the battery to allow for a higher power density and longer range of a battery of similar size or range comparable to a smaller battery.

According to the automaker, the initial prototype batteries have already completed 150,000 miles of simulated testing in research and development labs at GM’s World Technical Center in Warren, Michigan.

Further development of future batteries is approaching before the automaker launches EVS with its first generation of Ultium battery cells later this year, starting with the GMC Hummer EV for $ 112,595.

The Hummer is part of GM’s plan to launch 30 new or redesigned vehicles by 2025 with a $ 27 billion investment in electric and autonomous vehicles. GM has also recently announced plans to sell exclusively electric vehicles in 2035.

GM’s announcement comes a day after a new report from Cairn Energy Research Advisors said electric vehicle leader Tesla is expected to continue to have the lowest costs in the electric vehicle industry until at the end of this decade, with GM closing the gap.

Helfrich declined to specifically discuss these findings, but said GM plans to “innovate faster than anyone in space” and be “the world’s largest partner in developing solutions that will electrify the industry.” car “.