GM takes EV battery fight to China, asks engineers to 'challenge' their bosses

Representative Image. Credit: Pexels.com​General Motors is challenging China’s dominance in EV batteries. Alongside developing a different battery chemistry for electric trucks and large SUVs, the automaker is encouraging engineers to question senior leaders, acknowledge uncertainty and turn down work that distracts from their priorities. According to a Fortune report, that cultural shift helped GM move forward with a battery technology it had spent more than a decade researching.​“I want to grant myself permission to speak fearlessly.” GM has encouraged employees to use this phrase when opening a disagreement with their seniors, Kurt Kelty, its vice president of battery and sustainability, told Fortune. Battery engineer Andy Oury said the approach helped open up the debate over lithium manganese-rich batteries, or LMR, which GM plans to produce commercially with LG Energy Solution in 2028.​What GM’s battery bet means for competition with China​Much of the world’s inexpensive EV battery supply uses lithium iron phosphate, or LFP, a chemistry dominated by China. GM’s LMR cells replace much of the nickel and cobalt with cheaper, more plentiful manganese and additional lithium.​GM says the technology can deliver roughly a third more energy density than leading LFP cells at comparable cost. Higher energy density means batteries can store more energy for their size or weight.​“We’re not licensing this from China,” Kelty told Fortune. “We’re developing this here.”​The company’s $900 million investment in battery development facilities in Warren, Michigan, is intended to help engineers develop cells and work out how to manufacture them. Previously, GM relied on partners to turn its cell designs into physical batteries.​The commercial outcome remains uncertain. Kelty said GM had enough supporting data to get about 60% to 70% of the way to its LMR decision, with further development needed to close the gap.​GM engineers are encouraged to challenge their bosses​Kelty described an engineer challenging him during a call with a senior vice president listening.“Kurt, I want to have permission to speak fearlessly. What you said is absolutely wrong. It is not the way we should be going.”​Kelty welcomed the intervention, telling Fortune: “It’s great to have that.”​The same logic applies to quarterly performance reviews. Kelty, who joined GM in February 2024, implemented measurable goals tracked with red, yellow, and green indicators. He wants some red results because it means employees were aiming for difficult goals.​“At the end of the quarter, when we look at it, there should be some red lights on there,” he said. “And if there isn’t, then to me that means that they didn’t stretch far enough. So I want to see red.”​Saying no is part of setting priorities​Kelty also asked his direct reports to identify their annual priorities and two things they would not do. Oury said this challenged GM's established instinct to accept every assignment.​“If you don’t have a list of things you’re not going to do this quarter, then I assume you have too many people,” Kelty said.​He said the team took about a year to embrace the change. One example helped: an employee whose review contained numerous red results still received his highest performance ranking.