A word from the battery nerd

February 07, 2025Newsletter Archives

It’s been almost exactly a year since Kurt Kelty joined General Motors to run our EV battery business. Kurt has a been a power player in the battery business for more than 30 years, including more than a decade each at Panasonic and Tesla. And now he’s one of us.

In a bylined piece on GM News this week, Kurt reflected on his first year here, and gave a peek at what’s coming in 2025. 

“We are making progress,” he writes. “In 2024, more than 1.3 million Americans bought new EVs, unlocking technological benefits like instantaneous torque, smoother and quieter drives, and convenient home charging … Now, we’re accelerating battery innovation to deliver what matters most: more range, faster charging, and lower costs, all while keeping safety at the heart of everything we do.”

What happens next? “For GM, 2025 will be a year of intense focus on the details today to optimize the battery technology of tomorrow,” he writes. “We’re developing new form factors for tailored battery systems to serve different vehicles, integrating additional and lower-cost cell chemistries that can deliver range and affordability to customers, and partnering with world-class battery cell makers to onboard these new technologies.”

Get ready…it’s going to be electric.

– Eric J. Savitz, editor-in-chief, GM News