The new center is expected to be up and running by 2027 and...

The new center is expected to be up and running by 2027 and together the two facilities will be able to develop new packs and get them ready for production in 18 months. Kelty admitted the challenges GM faced in scaling up battery production but added, "I can confidently tell you that the manufacturing problems we faced at the end of last year are behind us."

GM increased its battery module production by 10 times compared to the last year and its Ohio-based JV with LGES is on track to produce 100 million cells by the end of this year. GM is also building a new $3.5 billion battery plant in Indianain partnership with Samsung SDI to develop nickel-rich prismatic cells.

Kelty said all of this is meant to "significantly" reduce battery weight, drive down costs and make manufacturing less complex. GM last year said it was abandoning its goal of selling 400,000 EVs by mid-2024—now its on track to produce and deliver about 200,000 EVs this year. And this revised battery strategy might help it unlock a new phase of mass production while potentially improving the range and charging speeds of its EVs.

For all these challenges, includingsoftware issues and moving sales goalposts several times, GM is doing comparatively well in electric sales. It just posted yet another consecutive quarter of EV deliveries and may close the year as America's no. 2 electric automaker behind Tesla.