GM suggests a cheaper electric pickup with a range of 350 miles

The Detroit automaker is working to secure a supply of lithium iron phosphate batteries in North America, said Kurt Kelty, GM’s vice president of battery strategy. Chinese automakers often use LFP batteries in their electric vehicles due to their low cost, making them an ideal candidate to power a more affordable EV pickup.

“We have enough room in our truck platform that with smart engineering we can use low-cost LFP batteries to get over 350 miles of range,” he said during a presentation to investors on Tuesday. “Our team is actively working to locate the supply of LFP.”

The effort highlights how Kelty has worked to change the company’s battery strategy since former Tesla Inc. arrived at GM in January. He is pushing to reduce the cost of GM’s current lineup of electric vehicles, in part by using different chemistries and batteries designed to better suit each particular model.

Meanwhile, as GM sells more electric vehicles using current batteries, costs are falling and the program is losing less money, according to GM CFO Paul Jacobson. He said the company’s electric vehicles, which collectively sold 120,000 by the third quarter of this year, would be profitable in the fourth quarter after excluding upfront investment costs for vehicle development, batteries and plants.

GM’s earnings before interest and taxes will benefit by $2 billion to $4 billion next year, Jacobson said, which will help the automaker maintain the company’s current levels of profitability.

To further reduce battery costs, GM has been in talks with TDK Inc. of Japan about building a factory in the US to manufacture LFP batteries with technology licensed from Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. from China, Bloomberg reported in September.

Rival Ford Motor Co.’s F-150 Lightning pickup. reach a range of about 320 miles. GM’s current Chevrolet Silverado pickup trucks have a range of over 490 miles running on lithium-ion batteries, which are more expensive than the LFP.

(Updates with EV financial numbers in fifth paragraph)