GM, LG to upgrade Tennessee plant to make low-cost EV batteries
12 comments
·July 14, 2025WorldPeas
kjkjadksj
The modern corvette absolves a lot of sins imo. It was a big decision making it mid engined.
lucideng
I want to agree with you that the "corvette absolves a lot of sins". But GM is still operating like they are "too big to fail", I hope we don't bail them out again. They make some amazing products and have a long history of advancing manufacturing and technology in their sector. Even with their engineering prowess, almost in spite of it, they continue to make some of the most mediocre vehicles that have ever existed. I swear the only people that buy their cars are former employees and relatives of said employees.
MisterTea
> I swear the only people that buy their cars are former employees and relatives of said employees.
Coworker loves loves loves the corvette even though its one of the worst vehicles electrics wise. Two people he convinced to buy vettes traded them back in within a year of purchase for electrical issues.
Brand loyalty is a big part of the American mindset and I think GM rested on those laurels to the point where even after the bailout they still have the same mindset.
jillesvangurp
It will be interesting to see when sodium ion production ramps up in the US and EU. China is far ahead with this. As it was with LFP for the last few years. CATL is actually ramping up production for their second generation sodium ion battery already. They've been producing the first generation for a few years already. Sodium ion is going to be double digit percentages of the battery market in a few years. Like LFP is today. In China at least.
The advantage is not only cost but also longevity. LFP and sodium ion batteries might have decades of useful life. With thousands of charge cycles, you could be charging them on a daily basis and it would be fine. NMC only has about 1000-1500 cycles. Some LFP batteries do 3-4x better than that. Sodium ion even better.
dralley
Sodium ion is more useful (relatively speaking) for grid backing than cars. Weight and power density aren't so much of an issue in that application, longevity and price definitely is. So they can probably pivot if the administration starts trying to mess with the electric car market.
thebruce87m
> The advantage is not only cost but also longevity. LFP and sodium ion batteries might have decades of useful life.
> NMC only has about 1000-1500 cycles.
200 miles per cycle and you’re at 200,000 miles, which is decades for a lot of people.
rapsey
Sodium is not very good chemistry. High degradation for instance.
happosai
Citation needed.
CATL is promising 10k cycles for their latest sodium ion cells.
alephnerd
> when sodium ion production ramps up in the US and EU
The Ultium announcement isn't Li-S related but but number of battery plant announcements over the past 5 years in the US (as well as Japan) have been plants that can support both LFP and Li-S battery manufacturing.
Japanese, Korean, and American automotive and battery vendors have been aligned on this from a capital and IP perspective for a LONG time.
null
alephnerd
The batteries from this plant are also being used by Honda, as Honda and GM are working on sharing their BMS and platform
It is sad that gm essentially sold their entire "skateboard" platform they abandoned to SAIC, who now functionally own Cadillac/Buick. For all those who claim this was some kind of deception, it wasn't. Years of myopia, from the Motorola corvette to the EV-1 to the abandoned skateboard to the squandered volt and neglected bolt, GM is like Polaroid. They stopped being a "car" company and became an "engine" company, like how Polaroid stopped being a "camera" company and was a "chemical" company. This could shape up to be like JVC and its former parent, RCA, would the US gov bail them out again?
https://www.jalopnik.com/chevy-and-motorola-teamed-up-on-a-c...
https://carnewschina.com/2022/03/06/the-big-read-saic-6-6-th...
https://www.scmp.com/business/china-business/article/3308575...