For a decade now, General Motors has been quietly working on a battery technology known as LMR, an acronym for “lithium manganese rich” cathodes. Researchers have been studying LMR technology since the 1990s, attracted by the potential for a new class of electric vehicle batteries offering impressive range and affordable pricing.
However, there are no EVs with LMR batteries on the road, and for good reason. Historically, LMR has been hampered by technical barriers, in particular short battery life and voltage decay, which made them a tantalizing but impractical option.
But GM and its collaborator LG Energy Solution have engineered solutions clearing the way for a leap forward that will offer consumers EVs with an attractive combination of long range and low cost. Today GM has the longest-range truck, the Chevrolet Silverado EV Work Truck with Max Range, EPA-rated at 492 miles with a full charge; the Silverado also happens to be the fastest-charging truck on the market, with a charging capacity of 350 kW. And with LMR, GM says it can make EVs more affordable.
GM and LG Energy Solution have announced plans to commercialize LMR battery cells in a prismatic form factor – more on that in a moment – for future electric trucks and full-size SUVs. GM aims to be the first automaker to deploy LMR prismatic batteries in EVs. Ultium Cells, a GM and LG Energy Solution joint venture, plans to start commercial production of LMR prismatic cells in the U.S. in 2028.
GM EV trucks and SUVs today use a battery technology known as NMCA, or nickel manganese cobalt aluminum oxide, a reference to the chemical composition of the cells. While high nickel NMCA chemistry offers long range, by integrating LMR battery technology and the manufacturing and space efficiency benefits of prismatic cells, GM aims to offer more than 400 miles of range in an electric truck while achieving significant battery pack cost savings compared to today’s high-nickel pack.
GM began researching manganese-rich lithium-ion battery cells in 2015, accelerating this technology development by prototyping LMR cells at its Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center in Warren. In collaboration with partners, GM engineers advanced cathode materials, electrolytes, additives, form factors, and cell assembly processes to overcome LMR’s legacy challenges in performance and durability.
LG Energy Solution holds the largest LMR technology IP portfolio globally, having secured over 200 patents in this technology field. Its expertise reflects extensive research, with its first patent on LMR chemistry dating back to 2010.
By the end of 2024, GM had coated about one ton of LMR cathode in the Wallace Battery Cell Innovation Center, testing hundreds of large format prismatic cells in 18 different prototype varieties and 3 different cell dimensions, testing them to the equivalent of 1.4 million miles of EV driving.
Here are some things to know about the work on LMR battery technology, and how LMR will change the EV landscape:
– Lower-Cost, Simpler Design: With a typical high nickel battery cell, the chemical composition is roughly 85% nickel, 10% manganese and 5% cobalt. The composition of LMR cells is much different – around 35% nickel, 65% manganese, and virtually no cobalt. Here’s why that matters: manganese is cheaper and more plentiful than either nickel or cobalt. The material in these cells is much less expensive. The chemistry also lends itself well to larger cell sizes, which further reduces system cost, with fewer connective and structural elements in a battery pack.
– LMR vs. LFP: GM estimates that our new LMR cells will get 33% more energy density at a comparable cost than LFP, or lithium iron phosphate, another popular lower-cost EV battery chemistry.
– Bigger cells: With LMR, GM is going to build “prismatic” cells, which are rectangular in shape, rather than the “pouch” cells that lie at the heart of current high nickel packs. That makes them substantially more efficient to package in full-scale trucks and SUVs. Prismatic cells reduce both the number of required parts and the percentage of non-active materials. More specifically, prismatic cells reduce battery module components by 75% and total pack components by 50%.
– Barriers broken: As noted, LMR cells historically have been subject to both a short lifespan and “voltage attenuation,” the tendency to suffer voltage loss over time. GM has worked with its suppliers to optimize the materials in our LMR cells, adding proprietary dopants and coatings, along with particle engineering, process innovations, to achieve the right energy density and arrangement of battery materials inside the cell to keep them stable. The result is that the new LMR cells can match the lifespan of current generation high-nickel cells, with comparable performance but much lower cost.
– Deep IP: GM has a considerable and growing portfolio of LMR related intellectual property, particularly around cell production and integration, and its collaborator LG Energy Solution holds more than 200 patents around the world on LMR-related technology.
