GM reportedly in talks with CATL to license LFP battery tech

Here's a story with a lot of layers, and it starts in China. The Beijing Late Post reports (translated, and via Car News China) that battery maker Contemporary Amperex Technology Company (CATL) is in talks with General Motors about establishing a North American battery production facility that would duplicate the licensing agreement Ford arranged with CATL for Ford's Blue Oval Battery Park in Michigan (BOPP). The BOPP, announced a year ago, would have Ford pay for the factory and production equipment, then license CATL's lithium iron phosphate battery technology. CATL would set up the plant and train Ford personnel, and help Ford set up a supply chain that satisfies IRA tax credit requirements, but have no financial interest in the plant, making its money from the licensing fee and royalties for the batteries produced. The Late Post cited unnamed sources for the GM news, saying that this potential plant is being considered for the U.S. or Mexico, and would be capable of making just as many batteries as Ford's facility. 

We know the next coming of the Chevrolet Bolt will employ LFP batteries; GM CEO Mary Barra said late last year, «This is will be our first deployment in North America of LFP technology in the Ultium platform,» GM CFO Paul Jacobsen reaffirming the plan last month. The automaker says using the less expensive LFP cells as opposed to the nickel cobalt manganese (NCM) chemistry will save billions. Neither exec identified a source for the batteries. GM's primary Ultium partner, LG Energy, talked last year about developing LFP cells and establishing production in the U.S. We're not clear where the tech conglomerate is in the process, but we get the impression LG isn't far enough along to challenge the capabilities of CATL LFP batteries.

CATL already supplies automakers like BMW, Kia, Mercedes-Benz and Tesla. Last year, the company announced a Shenxing Superfast Charging Battery that can withstand a charging rate that adds 248 miles in 10 minutes. This year, the battery maker and Chinese bus maker Yutong just announced a long-life EV battery that CATL will warranty for 15 years or 932,000 miles, and CATL said it would lower LFP's cost-per-kilowatt-hour by