GM to build new battery plant to make cheaper electric vehicles

General Motors is working on a Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center. This new facility is designed to expand the company's battery manufacturing operations and accelerate the development and commercialization of electric vehicle batteries at a more affordable price.

General Motors it wants to make battery electric vehicles more affordable while increasing their range, and a key part of that is making batteries cheaper. As a result, creates the Wallace Battery Innovation Center in southeast Michigan, which next year will start focusing on battery improvement and cost reduction per kWh by 60% compared to current prices.

The innovation center will be ready next year

The center is scheduled to open in 2022. During a press conference, GM's director of battery strategy and design Tim Grew, said we can expect the technology to be developed at the center by the middle of the decade. So by 2025, the quirky things that are being developed could be in stock cars you can buy, and not just luxury ones like the .

Introducing the all-new Wallace Battery Innovation Center, which will serve as an accelerator for our next generation Ultium battery chemistry and the key to creating more affordable electric vehicles with optimal range. Learn more:

— General Motors (@GM)

While GM didn't want to give exact dates or numbers, it emphasized that the idea was to move as quickly as possible, moving research from the center to the roads. Specifically, the goal is to bring down the cost per kilowatt hour of batteries made in the United States to US$60.

What will be the first GM promotion at the Innovation Center?

First production order there will be second-generation Ultium batteries that will power the Hummer electric car, as well as future premium models from GM and some from Honda.. It is intended for larger vehicles, unlike the Bolt, which has always been GM's cheapest electric car, with its goal, at least until the recall, to keep cutting the price. 

State of the art equipment

As the center of innovation, will have advanced facilities for lithium processing, battery manufacturing and testing, including cell testing chambers, cell forming chambers, material synthesis laboratory for the production of cathode materials, slurry processing and mixing laboratory, electroplating room and production workshop.

He also promises to set up a forensic center to look into what goes wrong (or right) with batteries under certain conditions, and hopes to make more cells and packaging recyclable, which was explicitly mentioned in the facility's report and is the president's priority today. Biden. and his electrification plans.

The innovation center will create new jobs

The site is expected to be approximately 300,000 square feet with potential for expansion. While GM wouldn't rely on exact numbers, representatives confirmed that "hundreds" would be working directly at the facility, including new hires and existing GM employees. Special mention has been made for software engineers in particular, and battery management software is a key area for capacity and durability management, including regenerative braking and smart charging. 

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