GM invests in battery materials startup in quest for lower-cost EVs

General Motors is investing in a battery materials startup working on next-generation lithium iron phosphate batteries in an effort to speed up development of lower-cost electric vehicles.

GM on Wednesday said it led a $60 million Series B funding round in Mitra Chem, a Mountain View, Calif., company focused on developing iron-based cathodes and getting products to market faster with machine-learning simulations. Mitra Chem also is working to create a supply chain that meets geographic sourcing requirements of the Inflation Reduction Act.

The collaboration between GM and Mitra Chem will focus on iron-based cathode active materials, such as lithium manganese iron phosphate, that could allow GM to bring the future battery chemistries into its Ultium-based EVs. Longer term, the companies said, their partnership will explore other next-generation iron-based formulas.

"The most expensive component of the EV is the battery. If we can reduce the cost of the battery, then we can make EV ownership even more affordable and speed up our transition to an all-electric future," Gil Golan, GM's vice president of technology acceleration and commercialization, told reporters.

"Mitra Chem's labs, methods and talent will fit perfectly with our in-house R&D battery work," Golan said. "This is a strategic investment for us."

Lithium iron phosphate batteries are less costly to produce than other chemistries, and iron is more prevalent than cobalt and other necessary metals.

GM's Ultium battery platform uses multiple battery cell chemistries and form factors globally today, but all of its Ultium-based EVs in North America use a nickel cobalt manganese aluminum chemistry, a spokesperson said. Collaborating with Mitra Chem will speed up GM's ongoing work around iron-based cathode materials, which the spokesperson said "could eventually coexist with our current nickel-rich formulas."

Mitra Chem was founded in 2021. The company has 60 employees, CEO Vivas Kumar said. He declined to disclose specifics about other investors but said GM is the company's primary automaker customer.

"GM's investment in Mitra Chem will not only help us develop affordable battery chemistries for use in GM vehicles but also will fuel our mission to develop, deploy and commercialize U.S.-made iron-based cathode materials that can power EVs, grid-scale electrified energy storage solutions and beyond," Kumar said.