General Motors said it's developing sodium ion batteries for grid-scale energy storage systems.
Chinese battery makers have already commercialized the technology. Now multiple U.S. companies are betting on it, too.
Sodium-ion batteries have plenty of advantages over current lithium-based chemistries.
General Motors is teaming up with U.S. startup Peak Energy to deploy sodium-ion batteries for energy storage systems, the automaker announced on Tuesday. As electric vehicle sales remain uneven, U.S. automakers are redirecting their battery ambitions toward the booming energy storage market, where demand is surging on the back of power-hungry AI data centers.
GM Ventures, the automaker's investment arm, will back the partnership, which is focused on developing purpose-built sodium-ion cells. GM said it will conduct material and component development this year, followed by prototyping at its battery lab in Michigan. A timeline for high-volume production is yet to be announced.
