General Motors Says It's Close To Developing Electric Car Batteries That Run For Million Miles

General Motors is pursuing a new technology for an electric vehicle battery that will last one million miles or 16 lakh km. Now an update by a top executive at the American auto maker reveals that it might just be very close to achieving it.

GM Executive Vice President Doug Parks highlighted the company¡¯s ongoing work on the battery during an online investor conference on Tuesday. Parks mentioned that ¡°multiple teams¡± at GM are working on several battery technologies, including zero-cobalt electrodes, solid state electrolytes and ultra-fast charging.

The advancements come in succession to the Ultium battery that GM unveiled back in March. Ranging from 50 to 200 kWh, GM estimated a range of up to 400 miles (644 km) or more on a full charge on the Ultium battery. With that, the battery was able to empower an acceleration of 0 to 60 mph (0 to 100 kmph) in as low as 3 seconds.

GM Ultium Battery (Image: GM)

Though Parks did not mention a timeline for the next-generation batteries, he did mention that these would be even more advanced than the Ultium battery. ¡°Almost there,¡± is the only update on their timeline for now.

In addition to the development of the new battery technology, GM, along with its battery partner LG Chem, is also investing in ways to reduce battery costs. These initiatives include ¡°investing in mines, hedging metals prices and partnering with metals refiners,¡± Adam Kwiatkowski, executive chief engineer of GM's electric propulsion systems, said on Tuesday as per a Reuters report.

GM has set a target of selling 1 million electric vehicles every year in the United States and China starting 2025. With a battery enabling its electric vehicles to go the distance that is unmatched in the EV industry, GM might just leapfrog to the front-runners in the EV race in all its markets across the globe.

(With inputs from Reuters)