GM will spend $1B making the first manganese-rich cells in mass production

GM and LG Energy Solution will spend $1B turning their Spring Hill plant into the first factory to mass-produce prismatic lithium manganese-rich cells. Europe’s carmakers are spending comparable sums on lithium iron phosphate, the chemistry GM’s battery chief says may never earn its way into its cars.

General Motors and LG Energy Solution will spend $1B turning their Spring Hill plant in Tennessee into the first factory to mass-produce prismatic lithium manganese-rich cells, or LMR. Work starts later this year and finishes by 2028. It is the first time either has named a site for the chemistry.

The cells carry far less cobalt and nickel than GM’s current ones, and much more manganese. GM claims 33% more energy density than the best lithium iron phosphate cells at the same cost, as InsideEVs reported .

It wants that in full-size pickups and large sport utility vehicles, with over 400 miles of range. The first cars are due in 2028.

The money builds on $2.3B committed in 2021 and $275M more in 2022. The plant already makes lithium iron phosphate cells, but for energy storage rather than cars.

GM had already committed $900M to the chemistry, with a pilot line in Warren, Michigan making 2,500 cells a day. Spring Hill is where volume comes from.

Kurt Kelty, GM’s battery chief, went further in June. Lithium iron phosphate may never earn its way into GM’s portfolio at all, he told electrive.

Europe is moving the other way. Volkswagen just sold 49% of its Spanish battery venture to Gotion to make lithium iron phosphate at Valencia. Stellantis and CATL are building 50 GWh of it at Zaragoza.

Europe is betting that cheap cells matter more than dense ones, because the cars built here are small. GM is betting that dense cells can be made cheap.

The catch is the material. LG Energy Solution’s research showed the cells holding 92.2% of capacity after 883 cycles, which answers the durability objection. It does not answer where the manganese comes from.

The European Commission says the bloc is fully dependent on imports of battery-grade manganese. Reliance runs at 96% for extraction and 66% for processing, against demand forecast at 74,000 tonnes by 2030.

GM’s plans have not run smoothly. The Ohio cell plant restarted in August after seven idle months, closed when the US tax credit was withdrawn.

Manganese is a strategic raw material under the Critical Raw Materials Act. Swapping cobalt for manganese would cut one European dependency and deepen another.

Spring Hill finishes in 2028, the year the first cars should carry the cells. No European plant has been announced for the chemistry.