In the United States, where the electric vehicle market has cooled down, and AI computing power is driving rapid growth in global electricity demand, American automobile manufacturers are beginning to focus on the field of energy storage.
On June 9th local time, General Motors of America announced that it is developing a new battery technology based on sodium ions, and plans to begin producing key components for large energy storage batteries. The company's battery business leader even stated that one of their goals is to achieve “leapfrog” superiority over Chinese companies in this field.
According to a report by the American newspaper The New York Times on the 9th, General Motors plans to use a relatively new technology to develop battery units for large-scale energy storage. The American energy storage startup Peak Energy, which collaborates with General Motors, will be responsible for integrating these battery units into industrial-grade energy storage systems.
According to the Financial Times, Kurt Kelty, vice president of General Battery, stated that they have not yet finalized the location for battery production. However, their goal is to establish a complete supply chain based in North America. They plan to start producing thousands of battery units on a small scale at a battery development center in Michigan as early as 2028, and then gradually expand to mass production.
Kelti emphasized that the technology developed by General Motors will be “manufactured in the United States by Americans and managed by American teams”, and strives to achieve a “leapfrog” surpassing of Chinese competitors at the technical level.
"We didn't use Chinese technology to produce lithium iron phosphate batteries like others do... instead, we developed a better technology that allows us to surpass our competitors," he claimed.
General Battery Vice President Kurt Kelley General Website
The Financial Times notes that in the field of sodium-ion battery manufacturing, Chinese companies like CATL and BYD are leading the way. This has raised questions about whether European and American manufacturers can truly catch up with Chinese companies in large-scale competition.
According to a report by Xinhua News Agency's Economic Reference Report in March, Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd. recently released the Tianxing II Light Commercial Low-Temperature Version of the first mass-produced sodium-ion battery in the light commercial field. The company also announced that it has completed winter standard tests on Jianghuai minivans and other VAN vehicles, with mass production scheduled for July 2026. BYD also previously released the first sodium-ion battery equipped for forklifts.
Before General Motors announced its entry into the energy storage field, Ford Motor Company announced the establishment of a new energy business department last month. The company is transitioning from the electric vehicle sector to provide battery energy storage solutions to energy companies and large technology firms that build AI data centers. This news led to an increase in Ford's stock price. Ford uses the technology developed by CATL.
According to US media, after the U.S. Congress abolished tax incentives for electric vehicles worth up to $7,500 last year, sales of electric vehicles in the United States fell short of expectations. As a result, automakers had to reduce the production of electric vehicles and began to enter the energy storage market in order to find new growth opportunities.
The production of energy storage batteries is expected to help automakers improve their returns on investment in battery factories. Tesla has been selling energy storage batteries since 2015. Ford also announced last year that it would shift its factory in Kentucky from producing electric vehicle batteries to producing large-scale energy storage batteries. General Motors previously announced a partnership with LG Energy Solutions, planning to shift some of the production capacity of lithium iron phosphate batteries used for electric vehicles towards energy storage applications.
In the latest announcements, General Motors plans to develop battery units that use sodium as the main active ingredient. Sodium-ion batteries are made from sodium salts, which have a richer source of material compared to lithium used in lithium-ion batteries, and their cost is lower. Additionally, they can operate at extremely high and low temperatures, without the need for energy-consuming active cooling systems. This helps to reduce maintenance and operational costs.
However, some analysts are cautious about the commercialization speed of sodium-ion battery technology. Benchmark Mineral Intelligence, a company based in the UK that specializes in energy transition mineral pricing and data research, has stated that the technology ‘has not yet met the conditions for large-scale commercialization, and current optimism is more driven by market enthusiasm’.
Kelty acknowledges that the energy density of sodium-ion batteries is lower than that of lithium iron phosphate batteries, which is a key limitation in electric vehicle applications. However, he believes that this disadvantage does not constitute a major obstacle in stationary energy storage scenarios.
"Our next-generation sodium-ion battery research will boost energy density, and may surpass more mature battery technologies like lithium iron phosphate batteries in the long run. This will be a true competitive advantage in a market increasingly affected by cost pressures, rising energy demands, and geopolitical risks." said Kerry.
Additionally, General Motors announced that it will release software updates that enable some of its electric vehicles to generate electricity back into the grid, or to provide power to households through their energy storage systems. This will help reduce energy costs and grid usage. The company stated that approximately 250,000 vehicles with this feature have been sold, and they are also working with utility companies across the United States to offer such vehicle-grid interaction services to customers.
However, The New York Times warned that Tesla's electric pickup truck, the Cybertruck, already offers a "vehicle-network interaction" feature. Ford's recently discontinued F-150 Lightning also has similar capabilities. However, the adoption of such technology by American power companies is still slow, with only a few pilot projects having been carried out so far.
