通用汽车逆势推进新一代电动车计划，主打富锂锰基（LMR）电池、约三年后推出主流电动SUV

General Motors Co. is unfazed by the electric vehicle meltdown of the past few years, moving ahead with an all-new EV program expected to produce a new battery-powered mainstream SUV with about three years.

The automaker’s latest effort aims to field multiple affordable EVs in high-volume vehicle segments, GM executives told reporters at an event in New York. At the center it are batteries leveraging lithium manganese-rich chemistry, which offers greater driving range at a lower cost than the technology in GM’s offerings.

“Our end goal is profitable EVs,” Jaclyn McQuaid, GM’s senior vice president for vehicle products, said in an interview. “We see data that says customers who spend time in EVs enjoy the experience.”

Staying the course by planning new EV models is a bold move for GM. Under Chief Executive Officer Mary Barra, the company invested $35 billion in electric drive and other technologies to field a lineup that now comprises 12 models.

Yet vast majority of car buyers in the US — GM’s biggest source of sales and profit — continue to purchase gasoline-powered models, as well as hybrid-electric cars predominantly made by Asian rivals. That dynamic was magnified last year after President Donald Trump and Republican lawmakers slashed federal policies that had pushed carmakers to produce more EVs and incentivized consumers to buy them, including a $7,500 tax credit for EV purchasers.

So far this year, GM’s electric vehicle sales have fallen 43% to 82,000 through the third quarter. The company has written down more than $11 billion in EV investments and sold stakes in battery plants to partners LG Energy Solution and Samsung SDI. It’s also doubled down on internal combustion with new V-8 engines for its pickup trucks and SUVs.

Despite those immediate challenges, the carmaker still sees electric drive as its long-term future that will eventually be embraced by consumers.

McQuaid said recent developments with lithium manganese-rich chemistry, or LMR, have made it possible to GM to develop a broad lineup of EV models. Its current EV batteries utilize nickel manganese cobalt chemistry, which offers long driving range but at a high cost. Chinese automakers use lithium iron phosphate batteries, or LFP, which are cheaper but don’t go as far on a charge.

GM said its LMR batteries are designed to carry 33% more energy density than LFP, and by reducing weight, should be able to deliver 20% longer range on every kilowatt-hour of energy.

The company is extracting additional cost savings with new battery packs that are lighter, have less wiring and 40% fewer parts than its current models, said GM Chief Product Officer Sterling Anderson. GM is using more AI tools to coordinate between its design, engineering and manufacturing operations to halve the nearly five-year process of developing new models, Anderson said.

EVs also represent GM’s opportunity to introduce GM’s latest autonomous driving capabilities, which will debut on the electric Cadillac Escalade IQ in 2028 will be added to lower-priced models, Anderson said. That system will allow drivers to take their hands off the wheel and eyes off the road on highways. The company is working to eventually have its vehicles capable of off-highway autonomous driving, Anderson said.