Ultium Cells Will Add LMR Prismatic Cells to a Tennessee Plant Already Producing High-Nickel and LFP Batteries

🔋 iAtlas Daily #73 | Battery Manufacturing & Technology | October 2026

For years, the battery industry pursued a relatively simple objective:

Build More Gigafactories

More electric vehicles would require more batteries.

More batteries would require more factories.

But the next phase of battery manufacturing may be more complicated.

The question is no longer simply:

How much battery capacity can a factory produce?

Increasingly, manufacturers also need to ask:

How many different battery technologies can the factory support?

General Motors and LG Energy Solution are now providing an important example.

Their joint venture, Ultium Cells, will upgrade its Spring Hill, Tennessee battery factory to produce:

Lithium Manganese-Rich — LMR

prismatic battery cells for future GM electric vehicles.

Facility modifications are scheduled to begin later in 2026 and are expected to be completed in 2028. Ultium Cell

But the most interesting part of the announcement is not simply LMR.

The same manufacturing site is evolving toward supporting:

High-Nickel

LFP

LMR

across:

Pouch

Prismatic

cell formats. Ultium Cell

That represents a larger change in battery manufacturing.

The competitive advantage of a battery factory may increasingly depend not only on scale, but on flexibility.

🌍 The Big Story

Ultium Cells announced on September 28 that its Spring Hill facility will be upgraded for LMR prismatic battery production.

The plant is expected to become the world’s first facility to mass-produce prismatic LMR battery cells, according to Ultium Cells and the Tennessee government. Ultium Cell

The technology is particularly interesting because GM and LG Energy Solution are positioning LMR between two established battery strategies.

On one side:

LFP

Low cost.

Strong safety characteristics.

Increasingly important for affordable EVs and ESS.

On the other:

High-Nickel

High energy density.

Long driving range.

But generally greater material cost.

LMR attempts to create another option.

According to GM and Ultium Cells, the new cells are designed to provide approximately:

33% Higher Energy Density than LFP

while targeting:

Comparable Cost.

If the technology reaches those targets at commercial scale, it could occupy an important middle ground in the battery market.

1. What Is LMR?

LMR stands for:

Lithium Manganese-Rich

The basic idea is reflected in the name.

The cathode uses a relatively high proportion of:

Manganese

while reducing dependence on more expensive materials such as cobalt and nickel.

Manganese is already used in several lithium-ion battery chemistries.

But LMR attempts to increase its role significantly.

The objective is to combine:

Lower Material Cost

with:

Higher Energy Density

than conventional low-cost battery chemistries.

2. Why Does Manganese Matter?

Battery chemistry is partly a materials-economics problem.

Different cathode materials provide different combinations of:

Energy Density

Cost

Safety

Cycle Life

and:

Raw-Material Exposure

High-nickel batteries can deliver excellent energy density.

But nickel and cobalt can increase cost and supply-chain complexity.

LFP removes nickel and cobalt from the cathode.

That helps reduce cost.

But LFP generally provides lower energy density than high-nickel chemistries.

LMR attempts to create another balance:

More Manganese

↓

Less Dependence on Expensive Metals

↓

Competitive Cost

while maintaining:

Higher Energy Density

3. GM Has Been Working on LMR for More Than a Decade

This is not a sudden battery experiment.

GM says it began researching manganese-rich lithium-ion cells in:

2015

The company subsequently developed the technology with LG Energy Solution across areas including:

Cathode Materials

Electrolytes

Additives

Cell Formats

and:

Manufacturing Processes. Ultium Cell

That is important because LMR has historically faced technical challenges.

Promising chemistry does not automatically become a commercial battery.

The real challenge is turning materials science into:

Reliable Mass Production

4. LMR Has Had Technical Problems

Manganese-rich cathodes have attracted attention for years.

But commercialization has been difficult.

Challenges can include:

Voltage Fade

Capacity Retention

Cycle Life

and:

Charging Performance

These issues help explain why LMR has not already become a mainstream EV chemistry.

GM and LG Energy Solution say their development work has addressed historical performance and durability barriers. Ultium Cell

The next test will be industrial.

Can those improvements survive:

Millions of Cells

rather than laboratory samples?

5. The Cell Format Is Changing Too

The new battery is not only a new chemistry.

It also represents a different:

Form Factor

GM’s earlier Ultium strategy was strongly associated with:

Large Pouch Cells

The new LMR batteries will use:

Prismatic Cells

This means the Spring Hill transition involves two variables at once:

Chemistry Change

Form-Factor Change

That makes the manufacturing transition particularly significant.

6. What Is a Prismatic Cell?

A prismatic cell places battery components inside a:

Rigid Rectangular Housing

Conceptually:

Electrodes

↓

Cell Stack

↓

Rigid Prismatic Case

Compared with pouch cells, the rigid structure can simplify certain aspects of pack integration and mechanical design.

Prismatic cells are already widely used across the global EV industry.

For GM, adding prismatic production broadens the manufacturing architecture available for future vehicles.

7. Why Not Use One Battery Chemistry Everywhere?

Because different vehicles need different batteries.

A large electric pickup may prioritize:

Range

Power

and:

Energy Density

An affordable compact EV may prioritize:

Cost

An ESS installation may prioritize:

Cycle Life

Safety

and:

Cost per kWh

There is no single chemistry that perfectly optimizes all of them.

That is why GM increasingly describes its strategy as matching:

The Right Battery to the Right Application

8. High-Nickel Still Has a Role

The move toward LMR does not mean high-nickel batteries are disappearing.

GM says high-nickel batteries will continue to provide the highest-range solutions within its portfolio. Ultium Cell

That distinction matters.

The industry is not necessarily moving:

High-Nickel → LFP → LMR

as a simple replacement sequence.

Instead, the structure is becoming:

High-Nickel

↕️

LMR

↕️

LFP

with each chemistry serving different applications.

9. And LFP Is Already Being Produced at Spring Hill

This is where the factory story becomes particularly interesting.

Spring Hill began producing LFP battery cells for:

Energy Storage Systems

in June 2026.

Those cells are intended for LG Energy Solution Vertech customers. Ultium Cell

So within a relatively short period, the plant’s role has expanded from its original EV focus toward:

ESS

and now:

Next-Generation EV Batteries

The factory itself is becoming diversified.

10. One Factory, Three Chemistries

Once the new production system is established, Spring Hill is expected to support:

High-Nickel

For high-performance and long-range applications.

LFP

For stationary energy storage.

LMR

For future GM electric vehicles.

That creates a manufacturing portfolio of:

Three Different Chemistry Platforms

under one industrial site. Ultium Cell

This may be more important than any individual chemistry.

11. It Will Also Support Multiple Cell Formats

The diversification does not stop there.

Ultium Cells says Spring Hill will support both:

Pouch

and:

Prismatic

cells. Ultium Cell

So the manufacturing structure becomes:

Multiple Chemistries

×

Multiple Form Factors

×

Multiple Applications

That is a very different factory strategy from building a highly optimized line around one cell design.

12. Battery Factories Are Becoming Platforms

The first generation of gigafactory thinking emphasized:

Scale

Large factories.

Large capacity.

High utilization.

Lower unit cost.

Those principles still matter.

But rapidly changing battery markets create another requirement:

Adaptability

A factory optimized for one product can become vulnerable if demand changes.

A more flexible factory may be able to respond by shifting:

Chemistry

Cell Format

or:

End Market

13. The ESS Pivot Already Demonstrated This

Spring Hill provides a real example.

The facility was originally developed primarily around EV battery manufacturing.

But slower EV growth and rapidly increasing energy-storage demand created another opportunity.

Ultium Cells invested approximately:

$70 Million

to retool part of the facility for LFP ESS batteries.

That production began in 2026. Ultium Cell

This is an important industrial lesson.

Existing battery assets can sometimes be:

Repurposed

rather than abandoned.

14. Now Another Retooling Cycle Is Beginning

The next stage is much larger.

The Tennessee government says Ultium Cells will invest:

$1 Billion

in Spring Hill as it retools and diversifies the operation. TNECD

Ultium Cells describes the combined investment in its LFP and LMR programs and related facility improvements as reaching $1 billion by 2030. Ultium Cell

Facility modifications for LMR are expected to begin later this year.

Completion is targeted for:

2028

The expansion is also projected to create approximately:

500 New Jobs

in addition to the site’s current workforce of roughly 1,200. Ultium Cell

15. Retooling Is Becoming a Strategic Capability

This deserves more attention.

Battery manufacturing is extremely capital intensive.

Factories contain expensive:

Coating Equipment

Drying Systems

Calendaring Equipment

Slitting Equipment

Cell Assembly Systems

Electrolyte Filling

Formation Equipment

and:

Inspection Systems

If battery technology changes, replacing the entire factory would be enormously expensive.

Manufacturers therefore have strong incentives to design production systems that can be:

Modified

rather than completely rebuilt.

16. But Retooling Is Not Simple

A chemistry change can affect more than the cathode material.

Different cells may require changes in:

Electrode Formulation

Coating Conditions

Drying

Electrode Loading

Cell Assembly

Electrolyte

Formation Protocols

and:

Quality Control

Changing the form factor from pouch to prismatic introduces additional manufacturing differences.

So:

Flexible Manufacturing

does not mean:

Easy Manufacturing

It means designing factories and equipment with future conversion in mind.

17. This Could Change Battery Equipment Demand

That creates an important implication for equipment suppliers.

Historically, equipment orders often followed:

New Factory Construction

But if manufacturers increasingly reconfigure existing plants, another market grows:

Factory Retooling

Equipment companies may increasingly need to provide:

Line Modification

Process Integration

Automation Upgrades

Inspection Upgrades

and:

New Chemistry Compatibility

not only greenfield production lines.

18. Brownfield Investment Could Become More Important

Battery investment can broadly be divided into:

Greenfield

Building an entirely new factory.

Brownfield

Upgrading or expanding an existing facility.

During periods of explosive demand growth, greenfield projects dominate attention.

But when demand becomes less predictable:

Brownfield Flexibility Becomes More Attractive

Companies can reuse:

Buildings

Utilities

Infrastructure

Workforce

and parts of:

Existing Equipment

That can reduce both investment risk and implementation time.

19. This Is Especially Relevant After the EV Slowdown

The global battery industry built enormous capacity based on expectations of rapid EV growth.

EV demand continues to expand over the long term.

But the pace has not always matched earlier projections.

That has created:

Idle Capacity

Delayed Projects

Factory Reassessment

and:

Investment Discipline

At the same time, ESS demand is accelerating.

The result is not simply:

Less Battery Demand

It is:

Different Battery Demand

20. Factories Need to Follow Demand

This creates a new manufacturing equation:

EV Demand Changes

↓

ESS Demand Grows

↓

Chemistry Requirements Change

↓

Factory Configuration Changes

Spring Hill illustrates this clearly.

The site can increasingly respond to different markets rather than depending on one product trajectory.

21. Chemistry Is Becoming Market Segmentation

Battery chemistry used to sound like a laboratory decision.

Increasingly, it is also a:

Market Strategy

High-nickel can target premium performance.

LFP can target cost-sensitive and stationary applications.

LMR could potentially occupy the space between them.

The battery portfolio begins to resemble:

Premium

Mid-Market

Value

product segmentation in other industries.

22. LMR Could Fill an Important Gap

Consider the basic trade-off.

High-Nickel

Higher Energy Density

but generally:

Higher Cost

LFP

Lower Cost

but:

Lower Energy Density

LMR aims for:

LFP-Like Cost + Higher Energy Density

According to GM, the technology is designed to provide approximately 33% greater energy density than LFP at comparable cost. GM

If commercial production confirms that combination, LMR could become particularly attractive for:

Electric Trucks

and:

Large SUVs

where battery size and driving range are critical.

23. Pack-Level Economics Matter Too

Battery cost is not determined only by:

$/kWh at the Cell Level

Higher energy density can potentially reduce the number or volume of cells required for a given driving range.

That can affect:

Pack Size

Vehicle Weight

Structural Materials

Cooling

and:

Packaging

GM previously said it expects LMR and prismatic architecture to deliver significant pack-cost savings compared with its current high-nickel packs. Ultium Cell

So the economic argument extends beyond cathode material cost.

24. More Chemistry Options Also Reduce Strategic Risk

Battery manufacturers face uncertainty across:

Raw Materials

Trade Policy

Customer Demand

Technology

and:

Regional Supply Chains

Depending entirely on one chemistry creates exposure.

A broader portfolio creates options.

If nickel prices rise:

another chemistry may become more attractive.

If ESS demand accelerates:

LFP capacity can become more valuable.

If consumers demand long-range but lower-cost EVs:

LMR may offer another solution.

This is essentially:

Manufacturing Optionality

25. Korea’s Battery Strategy Is Moving in the Same Direction

This also connects directly with Daily #70.

There we examined how Korea’s battery-material industry is expanding beyond its traditional strength in:

High-Nickel NCM

toward:

LFP

Mid-Nickel

LMR

and:

LMFP

Now the same diversification is appearing downstream in cell manufacturing.

The pattern is becoming clear:

Materials Diversification

↓

Chemistry Diversification

↓

Cell-Format Diversification

↓

Manufacturing Diversification

26. The Industry Is Moving Beyond One Winning Chemistry

For years, battery discussions often asked:

Which chemistry will win?

NCM?

LFP?

Sodium-ion?

LMR?

But the better question may be:

Which chemistry will win each application?

The battery market is becoming too large and diverse for one chemistry to dominate every use case.

27. That Changes the Meaning of Scale

Traditional manufacturing scale means:

Produce More of the Same Thing

Future battery scale may increasingly mean:

Produce Different Things Efficiently

That requires a different industrial capability.

Factories need:

Modular Equipment

Flexible Automation

Recipe Control

Advanced Inspection

and:

Process Knowledge

across multiple chemistries.

28. The Factory Becomes a Competitive Asset

This changes how we should evaluate battery companies.

It is not enough to ask:

How many GWh of capacity do they have?

We may increasingly need to ask:

What chemistries can that capacity produce?

What formats can it handle?

How quickly can it be converted?

How much does conversion cost?

and:

What markets can it serve?

Nominal capacity alone tells only part of the story.

29. Flexibility Has a Cost

There is an important counterargument.

A factory optimized around one product can potentially achieve:

Higher Throughput

Lower Complexity

Simpler Quality Control

and:

Lower Unit Cost

A highly flexible factory may sacrifice some optimization.

So manufacturers face another trade-off:

Efficiency vs. Flexibility

The correct balance will depend on how predictable battery demand becomes.

30. Spring Hill Will Be an Important Test

By 2028, the Tennessee facility could become an unusually diversified battery manufacturing hub.

If Ultium Cells executes its plan successfully, Spring Hill will demonstrate whether a large battery factory can economically support:

High-Nickel

LFP

LMR

Pouch Cells

Prismatic Cells

EV Applications

and:

ESS Applications

within one manufacturing ecosystem. Ultium Cell

That makes Spring Hill more than another gigafactory.

It becomes a test of:

The Flexible Gigafactory

🧩 Why This Matters

GM and LG Energy Solution are moving LMR toward industrialization.

The Spring Hill facility is expected to become the first plant to mass-produce prismatic LMR battery cells. Ultium Cell

LMR targets the gap between LFP and high-nickel.

GM says the technology is designed to provide around 33% higher energy density than LFP at comparable cost. GM

The factory is becoming multi-chemistry.

Spring Hill is evolving toward high-nickel, LFP and LMR production rather than depending on a single chemistry. Ultium Cell

It is becoming multi-format too.

The facility is expected to support both pouch and prismatic cells. Ultium Cell

Retooling is becoming an industrial strategy.

Existing battery factories may increasingly be modified for new chemistries and applications instead of being replaced by entirely new plants.

Battery capacity needs a new definition.

Future competitiveness may depend less on headline GWh alone and more on how flexibly that capacity can respond to changing markets.

🔭 What to Watch

LMR Manufacturing Yield

Laboratory performance is not enough. The critical question will be whether LMR can achieve competitive yield, consistency and durability at mass-production scale.

2028 Commercialization

Spring Hill modifications are scheduled for completion in 2028. Watch whether GM and LG Energy Solution remain on schedule as the technology moves toward commercial deployment. Ultium Cell

LMR vs. LFP

If LMR delivers substantially higher energy density at comparable cost, it could become an important alternative for larger EVs where LFP’s lower energy density creates packaging challenges.

Factory Retooling

Watch whether other battery manufacturers increasingly convert existing EV lines toward ESS, new chemistries or new cell formats rather than announcing entirely new gigafactories.

Battery Equipment

Multi-chemistry manufacturing could increase demand for flexible coating, assembly, formation, inspection and automation systems capable of supporting multiple production recipes.

Chemistry Diversification

The broader trend to watch is not which single chemistry wins, but how manufacturers divide different chemistries across EV, ESS and other applications.

🧭 iAtlas Insight

The first phase of the battery manufacturing race was about:

Capacity

Who could build the largest factories?

Who could reach the most GWh?

Who could scale fastest?

The next phase may be about something different:

Optionality

Can the factory move from EV to ESS?

Can it support more than one chemistry?

Can it change cell format?

Can existing equipment be reconfigured instead of replaced?

Can production follow the market?

Spring Hill provides an unusually clear example.

Its evolution can be summarized as:

High-Nickel EV Batteries

↓

LFP for ESS

↓

LMR for Future EVs

while its manufacturing architecture expands from:

Pouch

to:

Pouch + Prismatic

That is not simply a battery-chemistry story.

It is a factory-design story.

The most valuable gigafactory of the future may not be the one that produces the most of one battery. It may be the one that can adapt fastest when the battery market changes.

And in an industry where chemistry, demand and policy are all evolving simultaneously, that flexibility could become a major competitive advantage.

📚 Related Articles

📰 iAtlas Daily #70: Korea Is Building an LFP Supply Chain of Its Own

📰 iAtlas Daily #65: LG Energy Solution Is Building an ESS Manufacturing Network Across North America

🔗 References

• Ultium Cells — Spring Hill Operations to Produce LMR Prismatic Battery Cells
• General Motors — Ultium Cells to Bring LMR Production to Tennessee
• Tennessee Department of Economic & Community Development — $1 Billion Spring Hill Investment
• Ultium Cells — GM and LG Energy Solution to Pioneer LMR Battery Cell Technology
• Reuters — GM, LG to Make Lower-Cost EV Battery Cells in Tennessee

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