Not afraid of the cold winter of electric vehicles: General Motors (GM.US) is betting heavily on lithium-manganese-based batteries to bet on the next generation of affordable electric vehicles

The Zhitong Finance App learned that General Motors (GM.US) has not been shaken by the downturn in the electric vehicle market in the past few years and is promoting a new electric vehicle project. It is expected to launch a new battery-powered mainstream SUV within about three years. GM executives told reporters at an event in New York that the company's latest move aims to launch a variety of affordable electric vehicles in the popular model segment. The core is a battery with a lithium-manganese-based chemical system. Compared with the technology used in existing general products, this battery lasts longer and costs less.

“Our ultimate goal is to achieve profitable electric vehicles,” Jaclyn McQuaid (Jaclyn McQuaid), GM's senior vice president of vehicle products, said in an interview. “The data we've seen shows that consumers who have taken the time to experience electric vehicles love this experience.”

For GM, planning new electric vehicle models at a time when sales are declining is a bold move. Under CEO Mary Barra (Mary Barra), the company has invested $35 billion in electric drives and other technologies to launch a product lineup that currently includes 12 models.

However, in the US — GM's biggest source of sales and profit — the vast majority of car buyers are still buying gasoline-powered models, as well as hybrids produced mainly by Asian competitors. Last year, US President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers cut federal policies that had pushed car companies to produce more electric vehicles and encouraged consumers to buy, including a $7,500 tax credit for electric vehicle buyers.

So far this year, as of the third quarter, GM's electric vehicle sales have dropped 43% to 82,000 units. The company has depreciated its investment in electric vehicles by more than $11 billion and sold battery factory shares to partners LG New Energy and Samsung SDI. At the same time, the company is also doubling down on internal combustion engines to launch new V-8 engines for pickups and SUVs.

Despite these short-term challenges, the car company still sees electric drives as the long-term future, believing that consumers will eventually accept electric vehicles.

McQuaid said that recent advances in lithium-manganese-based chemical systems (LMR) have enabled GM to develop a broad product line for electric vehicles. Its current electric vehicle batteries use a nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) chemical system, which has a long battery life but is expensive. Chinese car companies use lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which cost less, but have a shorter battery life on a single charge.

According to GM, its LMR battery design has a 33% higher energy density than LFP, and by reducing weight, it should provide 20% more battery life per kilowatt-hour of energy.

GM's chief product officer Sterling Anderson (Sterling Anderson) said the company has also achieved additional cost savings through the new battery pack, which is lighter, has fewer wiring, and 40% fewer parts than current models. Anderson said GM is using more AI tools to coordinate design, engineering, and manufacturing operations to cut the new car development process in half of nearly five years.

Anderson said that electric vehicles are also an opportunity for GM to introduce the latest autonomous driving capabilities. This capability will debut on the electric Cadillac Escalade IQ in 2028 and will be extended to lower priced models. The system will allow drivers to take their hands off the steering wheel and off the road with both eyes on motorways. Anderson said the company is working to finally make vehicles capable of autonomous driving on non-motorways.