General Motors has selected Spring Hill, Tennessee, as the mass-production base for next-generation lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries for electric vehicles.

On Sept. 29, EV-focused outlet InsideEVs reported that GM said it plans to mass-produce LMR batteries at the Spring Hill plant of Ultium Cells, its joint venture with LG Energy Solution. It was the first time GM has officially disclosed a production base for its new EV battery technology.

GM plans to begin plant upgrades late this year and complete them by 2028. The company said the plant will be the world’s first production base to mass-produce prismatic LMR cells. GM has been developing LMR cells at its research and development facility in Warren, Michigan.

LMR batteries are meant to balance cost and driving range in GM’s next-generation EV battery portfolio. GM said LMR batteries can increase driving range by 33 percent compared with lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries, which are widely used as low-cost batteries.

LMR batteries are set to be installed in GM’s full-size electric trucks and SUVs. GM said vehicles equipped with LMR batteries will deliver driving range of more than 400 miles, about 640 km, under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standards.

The core of LMR lies in the battery cost structure. LMR is similar in basic structure to existing nickel manganese cobalt (NMC) batteries, but it sharply reduces the share of cobalt and nickel and increases the share of manganese. GM said manganese is easier to source than cobalt and nickel and has lower mining and processing costs.

GM therefore expects LMR batteries to deliver longer range while being produced at a cost close to that of LFP. GM will continue to use NMC batteries for EVs that need the longest range and apply LFP to low-cost models, with LMR serving as a compromise on cost and performance between the two.

The Spring Hill plant is currently producing LFP batteries for energy storage systems. Once the upgrades for LMR production are completed, the plant will produce batteries for both energy storage systems and EVs.

The first EV equipped with LMR cells is expected to be launched from 2028. GM plans to use the production shift to move LMR batteries from the research and development stage into full-scale mass production.