General Motors Abandons Ultium Battery Brand, Shifts to LiFePO4

2025-09-08 | Calvin

General Motors (GM) recently announced that it will discontinue the Ultium battery brand to further expand the types and chemistries of batteries used in its electric vehicles (EVs). Kurt Kelty, GM’s Vice President of Battery Systems, stated that the company will adopt lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery technology, which is expected to reduce EV costs by up to $6,000.

Since launching the Ultium battery brand in 2020, GM has used ternary battery technology in multiple EV models, including Chevrolet, Cadillac, and Hummer vehicles. However, the Ultium brand has not met market expectations, prompting GM to adjust its battery strategy.

Compared with ternary batteries, LFP batteries are cheaper to produce, safer, and do not rely on expensive and scarce cobalt. GM expects that from 2023 to 2024, the average cost of its EV batteries will decrease to $60 per kilowatt-hour, and by 2025, the adoption of LFP technology could further reduce costs by $30 per kilowatt-hour.

Notably, on September 25, SAIC-GM, in collaboration with CATL, unveiled the 6C ultra-fast charging LFP battery, which is planned to be used starting in 2025 in its newly upgraded Ultium Energy quasi-900V high-voltage battery architecture.

Earlier, in March of this year, reports indicated that CATL was negotiating a technology licensing partnership with GM to jointly build an LFP battery plant in North America. The planned annual capacity of this plant is expected to be no less than the plant CATL built in cooperation with Ford, which is planned to produce 20 GWh annually, enough to support more than 400,000 EVs.

In recent years, LFP batteries have increasingly gained favor among international automakers. Companies such as Tesla, Volkswagen, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Hyundai, Renault, Nissan, Toyota, and Honda have already adopted or plan to further expand the use of LFP batteries. Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that two-thirds of future Tesla vehicles will use LFP batteries, while one-third may use ternary batteries.

In China, the world’s largest EV market, LFP batteries now account for about twice the market share of ternary batteries in the power battery sector. According to data from the China Power Battery Application Branch, in the first half of this year, China’s installed EV battery capacity reached approximately 203.7 GWh. Of this, ternary batteries accounted for 71.1 GWh, or 34.9%, up 19.3% year-over-year, while LFP batteries reached 132.5 GWh, or 65.1%, up 32.8% year-over-year.

It’s not just GM; the entire U.S. market is stepping up its LFP battery deployment. According to Adamas Intelligence, LFP batteries currently make up less than 20% of announced battery capacity in the U.S., but the consultancy predicts that by the mid-2030s, the share of LFP batteries in the U.S. will approach 30%.