General Motors announced on September 29, 2026, that the Ultium Cells facility in Spring Hill, Tennessee, will undergo an upgrade enabling it to produce battery cells based on lithium manganese-rich chemistry, known by the abbreviation LMR. GM plans to allocate the facility’s production to its upcoming electric vehicles, a step confirming that the company is not abandoning the development of electric-vehicle batteries despite the scaling back of its previous plans and changes to policies supporting this market in the United States.
What Is Changing in Practice?
GM presents LMR batteries as a solution positioned between high-nickel battery technologies, which focus on long range, and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) chemistry, which is characterized by lower cost. According to the company, LMR cells provide 33% higher energy density than LFP cells, at approximately the same cost. This could make the technology suitable for vehicles seeking to combine longer range with a more affordable price.
Ultium Cells says it is developing a range of chemistries and cell formats, including high-nickel, LFP, and LMR batteries, in pouch and prismatic formats. Combined investments in LFP and LMR technologies will total about $2 billion through 2030, according to GM.
Production Plan and Timeline
The current step comes after nearly a decade of work on LMR technology in cooperation with LG Energy Solution, the partner in the Ultium Cells joint venture with GM. The company announced in May 2025 that commercial production of prismatic cells would begin in the United States by 2028, preceded by pilot production at an LG Energy Solution facility in late 2027.
GM had linked its initial plan to its large electric vehicles, including full-size sport utility vehicles and electric trucks. However, the current announcement does not identify the models that will use LMR cells or when they will reach the market.
Why Does This News Matter?
Automakers are seeking to reduce battery costs without making major sacrifices in range, while LFP chemistry has become a widespread low-cost option, particularly in China. GM is betting on manganese, an abundant element that costs less than some materials used in high-performance batteries, while attempting to address problems associated with LMR technology during its early development stages, such as short lifespan and voltage decline.
The decision to upgrade a U.S. facility to produce LMR indicates that GM sees future commercial potential in low-cost batteries, even after scaling back some electric-vehicle plans and turning toward stationary energy-storage systems that use LFP. The project also places the company in direct competition to develop batteries that could support the presence of U.S. manufacturers in the global electric-vehicle market.
Limitations and Open Questions
Several details in the material remain unresolved, including the final models that will use LMR cells, the cost of the resulting vehicles, and the batteries’ actual performance after large-scale production. The claim of 33% higher energy density is also based on GM’s comparison with LFP and, by itself, does not provide a complete picture of service life, charging speed, or performance under different usage conditions.