GM and LG's New Battery Bet: Why Cheaper Materials Matter for Electric Trucks

What They Just Announced

General Motors and LG Energy Solution announced plans to manufacture a new type of car battery using a different mix of materials, according to GM's May 13, 2025 statement. The batteries will use lithium-manganese-rich (LMR) cathode chemistry — that's the part of the battery that stores energy.

The idea is straightforward: use more of a cheaper metal (manganese) and less of two expensive, difficult-to-mine metals (cobalt and nickel). Think of it like switching from premium gasoline to regular — you get a usable product at a lower cost, though the chemistry is different.

The cells will be packaged in a prismatic form, which means a rigid rectangular casing rather than a tube or pouch shape. For large vehicles like pickup trucks, this shape packs more efficiently into the space available and manages heat better.

Why This Matters to Your Wallet

Electric trucks are expensive today partly because batteries cost a lot. Cobalt and nickel drive those costs up. Cobalt, in particular, comes mainly from one country (the Democratic Republic of Congo) and is subject to political risk and price swings. Manganese, by contrast, is cheap and found in many countries.

There's also a tax credit angle. The U.S. government's Inflation Reduction Act offers credits for electric vehicles, but only if they meet sourcing rules for critical minerals. Reducing cobalt and nickel helps vehicles qualify for those credits — which can mean lower prices for buyers.

LMR chemistry isn't new. Researchers have been working on it for over a decade. The catch: these batteries have historically degraded faster over charge cycles, losing capacity over time. That's why GM and LG are emphasizing commercialization — meaning they believe they can make these batteries work reliably at mass-production scale, not just in a lab. That's a crucial distinction, and it's not guaranteed.

The Broader Context

Battery chemistry is diversifying. Another emerging option is sodium-ion batteries, which use no lithium, cobalt, or nickel at all. Reuters reported in October 2024 that sodium-ion is being used for two different jobs: stationary grid storage and tiny city cars.

Sodium-ion works well for those applications because energy density (how much power you can pack into a given weight) matters less. You have space to work with, and you need the battery to last many cycles. For a long-range electric truck, though, weight and range are everything. You can't just make the truck heavier to fit a low-density battery.

LMR sits in the middle ground: cheaper than premium nickel batteries, but denser than iron-phosphate batteries that Chinese makers have already scaled successfully. If GM and LG pull this off, LMR could appeal to mainstream buyers who want 300-plus miles of range without paying premium prices.

What's at Stake for Supply Markets

Mining companies and traders care about this because it reshapes demand for raw materials. Less cobalt and nickel per battery means lower demand for those metals. Cobalt markets have been volatile for years, tied to political events in one African country. Reducing that reliance is meaningful for both car makers and buyers.

History offers a cautionary tale. A decade ago, Western automakers dismissed Chinese iron-phosphate batteries as too cheap and low-performing for serious vehicles. By the time they changed their minds, Chinese companies had built the factories, learned the manufacturing process, and captured market share. The GM-LG announcement reads partly as an attempt to avoid playing catch-up again — this time getting ahead of the curve before Chinese manufacturers scale LMR chemistry on their own.

Open Questions

GM and LG didn't say when these batteries will be manufactured, which vehicles will use them, or exactly how good the battery's energy density will be. Those details matter a lot. How long do the batteries last before they start degrading? How does the energy density compare to batteries GM is using now? Which trucks or SUVs get LMR first?

Without those numbers, this is more of a directional commitment than a finished plan. The chemistry direction makes sense, and the partnership has the manufacturing infrastructure in place. But whether these batteries will actually hold up over millions of charge cycles at commercial scale — consistently, reliably — is the real test. Many battery announcements sound promising in a press release and never ship in a real vehicle. This one has better credentials than most, but it's not yet a done deal.