GM, LG to upgrade Tennessee plant to make low-cost EV batteries

67 rntn 19 7/14/2025, 3:24:57 PM cnbc.com ↗

Comments (19)

WorldPeas · 4h ago
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...

happycube · 2h ago
They (probably) also had a chance to buy out A123 instead of letting it go to a Chinese company in bankruptcy, then they would have had control over LFP in general (word is CATL used a lot of ex-A123 industrial secres)
kjkjadksj · 3h ago
The modern corvette absolves a lot of sins imo. It was a big decision making it mid engined.
lucideng · 3h ago
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.
WorldPeas · 1h ago
>I swear the only people that buy their cars are former employees and relatives of said employees.

I regrettably had to use a rental GMC of theirs, it seems car rental companies have quite a stock of them, to say nothing of their quality, felt like driving a wheeled takeout container.

MisterTea · 3h ago
> 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.

tw04 · 2h ago
>Two people he convinced to buy vettes traded them back in within a year of purchase for electrical issues.

Why on earth would you take a bath on a trade-in instead of using the lemon law if there were unfixable electrical issues?

Also - this sounds pretty anecdotal to be honest, long-time corvette owner who follows the forums and I've not seen any widespread complaints of electrical issues with the c8 besides a battery drain issue caused by OTA updates that was resolved.

https://www.tsbsearch.com/Chevrolet/N242435630

MisterTea · 2h ago
C7's, and this was just before COVID. They were bought preowned from dealers. One had the entire electrical system shit itself after driving through a puddle and the other kept killing the battery at random.
tw04 · 1h ago
Given you responded to a quote about the C8 platform redeeming GM - it'd probably pertinent to specify you're talking about literally a completely different car other than the name. The C8 was a ground up redesign.

That being said, the C7 also had no known electrical issues. A certified pre-owned would still be covered under lemon law. "driving through a puddle" sounds like more than a bit of an understatment if it took out the entire electrical system. I have driven my car through many, many rainstorms and had exactly 0 issues. I'm also not clear how he traded in a car with a non-functioning electrical system, no dealer would touch that with a 30 foot pole.

>the other kept killing the battery at random.

That could literally be anything, and again wasn't a widespread issue with the C7 platform or there would've been a recall, just like with the C8.

WorldMaker · 2h ago
Mid-engined is most useful as a transition step to a modern skateboard design EV. Gets the center of gravity low and closer to the actual center point of the car, which a skateboard design then improves.

Corvette can't admit to aspirations of a Pure EV this decade (thanks, politics), but in my opinion, that's the only way to absolve a lot of the GM executive sins on being wishy washy about EV futures.

WorldPeas · 1h ago
I think the path forward for GM, and most other companies that still make engines is plug-in/gas hybrids. The electric transmission (should be?) more desirable to car enthusiasts, and the engine can still be a moat, though I'd say it quickly starts to feel redundant(to me).
WorldMaker · 1h ago
I still think 2019 GM was correct in killing the Volt that hybrids are a worst of both worlds in engineering trade-offs and strictly one or the other is the best approach for both. I also still partly agree that 2019 was about the right year to end that "transition tech" phase, at the very least as a political message (that wasn't correctly received).

(I say that as someone who still owns a 2012 Volt as my only car, but mostly not because I still think I need a hybrid but because I want an full electric, reasonably sized sedan or hatchback, and all the car companies decided Americans only want EV crossovers/SUVs/assault tanks/land yachts this decade.)

All hybrids (Prius included, and especially noted) are just sub-par Full EVs with extra weight albatrossed around their necks when gas gets hard to buy and it does seem like past time to stop sinking good money after multiple decades of sunk costs in ICE car engines.

I think it would be more obvious if the US had more of the cheap EVs that China and Europe are producing, but we all know the US right now isn't politically aligned to have nice things.

jillesvangurp · 5h ago
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 · 5h ago
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 · 4h ago
> 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.

alephnerd · 5h ago
> 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.

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rapsey · 5h ago
Sodium is not very good chemistry. High degradation for instance.
happosai · 4h ago
Citation needed.

CATL is promising 10k cycles for their latest sodium ion cells.

alephnerd · 6h ago
The batteries from this plant are also being used by Honda, as Honda and GM are working on sharing their BMS and platform