General Motors and Korean battery giant LG Energy Solution have jointly developed a new lithium manganese rich (LMR) battery chemistry that promises to extend driving range and lower the cost of electric trucks. The new batteries will debut on GM’s models in 2028.
Electric vehicle batteries come in different flavors, shapes and sizes. The most common batteries use nickel manganese and cobalt (NMC) chemistries, while some also add aluminum to the mix (NCMA). Lithium-iron-phosphate (LFP) batteries are also gaining steam with significant cost advantages, but they typically deliver lower range compared to NMC and are less popular here. They are far more common in China, where LFP tech has advanced rapidly.
GM says its LMR cathode chemistry will provide the advantages of both NMC and LFP chemistries. The estimated range of GM’s electric trucks with LMR batteries is more than 400 miles. Exact cost advantages were not disclosed, but the automaker said LMR would be “comparable” in dollars per kilowatt-hour to LFP and offer 33% more energy density.
Range isn’t a particular weakness for GM’s EVs. The Chevy Silverado EV Work Truck is rated for 492 miles of range on the EPA cycle. Credit its 205-kWh battery, one of the largest available in any consumer production vehicle. In an independent test, it even blew past that official range figure to achieve 539 miles of range in sunny California weather. Even the $35,000 Chevy Equinox EV can cover 319 miles.
But that range comes at a cost: big and heavy battery packs. Ask any chassis engineer and he’ll tell you the number one enemy for handling and efficiency is weight. GM’s LMR cells aim to solve this issue, to the extent that’s possible. Designed in a large prismatic format—thin, rectangular and stackable—they could offer significant packaging advantages.
Prismatic cells alone are expected to reduce pack-level parts by 50%, simplifying the structure and cutting weight.
“We’ve been working on this technology for over 10 years,” Kurt Kelty, the vice president of battery, propulsion and sustainability at GM, told reporters at the automaker’s R&D headquarters in Warren, Michigan last week. “LMR is going to be critical to growing and unlocking this market and giving more access to customers into these electric trucks,” he added.
Currently, GM’s large EV trucks and SUVs use 24-module battery packs, which are essentially two 12-module units stacked on top of each other. Smaller EVs get a single layer using up to 12 modules. With LMR, even the largest pack will require just six modules—each made up of 36 prismatic cells. The result is fewer components, better energy density and potentially “hundreds of pounds” in weight savings.
The automaker hasn’t scaled up production yet, so there are some reasons to be cautious about this unproven tech. But there are reasons to be optimistic, too.
GM and LG Energy’s Solution’s lithium manganese rich prismatic cell at its Wallace Battery Innovation Center in Warren, Michigan.
Photo by: General Motors
Technically, LMR isn’t a radical departure from existing chemistries—it’s still a variant of NMC, but with far less nickel and cobalt content, two of the most expensive and hard-to-source ingredients. Instead, LMR leans heavily on manganese, which is apparently abundant and cheaper, as GM points out.
Traditional NMC cells use roughly equal parts nickel, cobalt and manganese (about 33% each). Today’s high-nickel variants push cobalt down to 5% and nickel up to 85%, the automaker said. GM’s LMR formula somewhat flips the script. Its cells are expected to have 0-2% cobalt, 30-40% nickel and 60-70% manganese that’s locally processed.
GM accelerated LMR cell development in 2020 and invested $85 million in manganese supplier Element 25 in 2023. It expects to process the materials right here in the U.S. at a facility in Louisiana—although the raw material was said to be sourced from Australia at the time.
Now in 2025, GM says these cells have been tested in its R&D labs to the equivalent of 1.5 million miles of EV driving.
“It’s a game-changing battery for electric trucks, setting a new bar for performance in this important vehicle segment,” Kelty said.
“We’ve got a partner [LGES] that’s ready to go with us on this. The technology works, and we have an application for it. We’re going to actually see this in the marketplace,” he added.
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