GM's $900 Million Bet on LMR Batteries

General Motors has announced a $900 million initiative to reduce the cost of its next electric vehicles. The company is betting on LMR batteries and has built a new Battery Cell Development Center at its Warren Technical Center near Detroit. Kurt Kelty, GM's VP of battery and sustainability, has provided fresh details about the plan. He has explained that the new chemistry will preserve range while slashing costs. For example, the Chevrolet Silverado EV could be $6,000 cheaper. GM has also been using AI to speed up its vehicle development cycle. Sterling Anderson, the chief product officer, and Jason Fischer, the executive director of virtual integration engineering, have talked about how GM uses AI. The company uses a collection of outside AI models, as well as ones it has created in-house. These models can be used across large parts of the business. TechCrunch reporter Tim De Chant visited the Warren Technical Center to learn about the plan. The newsletter TechCrunch Mobility covered the story. The newsletter also included a poll about the Ferrari Luce EV. The poll asked readers if they loved, hated, or were indifferent to the car. About 44% of readers were indifferent, while the rest were split between love and hate. GM's new battery center is seen as a bridge between its research and full-scale production. The company hopes that the new batteries will help it sell more electric cars. The plan is a big gamble, but GM believes it will pay off.