General Motors will soon have a 'million-mile' battery
What's the story
To double down on the electric vehicles' market, leading automaker General Motors (GM) is working to bring million-mile batteries. The work on the revolutionary EV technology has been on for a while, and just recently, a senior executive at the company said that it will be here pretty soon. Here is all you need to know about it.
Statement
GM's assurance to investors
In a recent call with investors, GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks assured that the new million-mile battery is almost here. Parks did not provide specific details of the novel battery pack but emphasized that multiple teams at the company are working on the project as well as on related advanced features like ultra-fast charging, zero-cobalt electrodes, and solid-state electrolytes.
Rumors
What we know about the battery so far?
During its EV Day event in March, GM had announced that it is working with battery-maker LG Chem for the next-generation battery that will last a million miles before degrading. A month later, the automaker added more details on the project, telling the world that the next-generation battery will use less cobalt, an expensive and precious material mined by workers in brutal conditions.
Benefits
It will boost battery life, reduce cost
Once the million-mile technology becomes available in the market, EV owners will enjoy a significantly longer battery service life, which will reduce the cost (the cost per kilowatt-hour) of maintaining the vehicle. A typical battery bundled with an electric car lasts for about 100,000 to 200,000 miles, meaning the lifespan of car batteries would increase by at least 5 times.
Information
GM also exploring other ways to reduce battery costs
In addition to this, GM and LG Chem are also said to be exploring other ways of bringing battery costs down, say, like investing in mines, hedging metals' prices, and partnering with metal refiners.
Tesla
Tesla is also in this race
Notably, along with GM, Elon Musk's Tesla is also racing to launch a million-mile battery. The electric car-maker has reportedly partnered with Chinese battery-giant Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. Ltd. (CATL) to introduce the battery pack later this year or sometime next year. Meanwhile, Musk has said that the company's new technology "will blow your mind. It blows my mind."