GM expands energy storage push with new battery partnerships

On Tuesday, GM unveiled two new phases in its expansion into the energy-storage market. The automaker is launching a major push to support the power demands of the grid and AI data centers, backed by a committed $900 million investment to commercialize new battery chemistries. This strategy relies on developing alternative battery technologies and expanding commercial partnerships to deploy energy-storage systems (ESS).

To execute this strategy, GM is leveraging three distinct partnerships:

• Peak Energy: GM is partnering with the energy-storage startup to develop a new sodium-ion battery chemistry—a battery chemistry alternative to lithium-ion—for grid-scale deployments. GM plans to sell these sodium-ion cells to Peak Energy, which will integrate them into its products. Paul Menson, director of energy-storage commercialization at GM, noted that eliminating unnecessary parts from the system design helps eliminate engineering problems.
• Redwood Materials: GM is expanding its partnership with the battery-recycling and energy-storage partner. GM has a pipeline of around 10,000 battery packs being sent to Redwood, which already operates a 12 megawatt/63 megawatt-hour microgrid at a Crusoe data center in Nevada. Additionally, GM is buying a 7.2 megawatt-hour Redwood system for use at one of its plants in Michigan. The system is estimated to save around $3 million over its lifetime. Regarding the Michigan installation, Kurt Kelty, vice president of battery and sustainability at GM, said, “The factory is really excited because now we’ve got a more reliable factory. Ultimately, we’ll be having similar installations like this at all of our factories. It just makes good economic sense.” Cal Lankton, chief commercial officer for Redwood, described the GM installation as a first step.
• LG Energy Solution: Because sodium-ion production is not yet ready, GM will sell lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cells to LG Energy Solution for use in its energy-storage systems.

The development of the sodium-ion cells will take place at GM’s new battery-development center, with the first cells expected to enter trial production in 2028. GM expects the facility to reduce the commercialization process for sodium-ion batteries by about a year. However, GM’s sodium-ion cells are still years away from commercial production. Kelty explained that entering the market through ESS represents an easier path because the performance characteristics match what is needed in that market.

Why it matters

GM is entering the energy-storage market to support AI data centers and the grid, leveraging new partnerships and battery chemistries. The move allows the automaker to compete in an energy-storage space previously dominated by other automakers and startups.