Kurt Kelty, GM’s vice president of battery and sustainability, speaks June 9, 2026, during the automaker’s “Empower” event in which it announced the development of sodium-ion batteries for energy storage systems.
Courtesy GM
DETROIT — General Motors is in the early stages of developing next-generation battery cells that the company believes can reduce U.S. dependence on China, while boosting domestically sourced materials.
“We’re developing a supply chain such that, two years from now, three years from now, it will be domestic,” Kurt Kelty, GM vice president of battery and sustainability, told CNBC during an exclusive interview. “That’s what we’re aiming for — when we get into market, we’ve got a domestic source for that.”
Kelty was referring mainly to battery cells that the automaker expects to use in energy storage systems, or ESS, which are stationary devices for homes and businesses, including data centers. But the company plans…
