General Motors will drop the Ultium name from the modular EV batteries and related components used in all of the automaker’s current and planned U.S.-market electric vehicles, CNBC reported on Tuesday.
The hardware will remain the same, but GM will erase the Ultium name other than for production operations such as its Ultium Cells LLC battery joint venture with LG, according to the report. CNBC cited statements from the automaker made ahead of an investor conference Tuesday in which the rebranding was expected to be made official.
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“As GM continues to expand its EV business, the company is no longer branding its electric vehicle architecture, battery cells, or EV components with the Ultium name, starting in North America,” the automaker said in a statement to CNBC.
GM announced the Ultium propulsion strategy in 2020, aiming to achieve economies of scale for a wide variety of electric models by building everything off a common battery cell and motor family. The idea was meant to be an electric interpretation of the automaker’s traditional part-sharing strategy that led to ubiquitous internal-combustion powertrains like the classic small-block V-8.
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That strategy has since been implemented on vehicles ranging from the six-figure GMC Hummer EV to the $34,995 Chevrolet Equinox EV. But GM is now rethinking its EV strategy as sales grow at a slower pace than the automaker wants.
In July, GM CEO Mary Barra said the automaker was backing away from a target of production capacity for one million EVs in 2025, blaming an undeveloped EV market. In September, Barra said she was also surprised that EVs had become political, but said GM was still on track to eliminate tailpipes from its light-duty vehicles by 2035 (an “aspiration” announced in 2021) if customers are ready by then.
