The most important part of the Ultium package is the batteries. They feature cylindrical cells, like the one in your laptop battery, each capable of storing 0.37 kWh of energy, and they are usually arranged in 24-cell modules (with the cells either vertical or horizontal depending on the space constraints of the application), totaling 8.9 kWh.
These cells have a nickel-manganese-cobalt chemistry, and they can be found in all Ultium vehicles. You’ll find them in the Chevy Blazer EV’s battery pack, as well as in the GMC Hummer EV’s battery pack. The Blazer EV’s smaller 85-kWh battery pack is comprised of 10 battery modules, while the larger 105-kWh pack has 12 modules.
The 212-kWh pack in the Hummer EV is wired in a very complicated way, and it features 24 modules. The electric Hummer is the only Ultium EV that can run on 800 volts (only during charging), which enables it to accept 350 kW charging and add 100 miles of range in 10 minutes.
All other vehicles with Ultium batteries except the Hummer run on 400 volts, so they won’t charge any faster than 200 kW, even if you plug them into a 350-kW charging station.
One cool feature of Ultium batteries is that GM has implemented a wireless battery management and monitoring system, which not only keeps an eye on cell health but can also be used to implement changes when the manufacturer launches updates.
GM was one of the first manufacturers to implement this, starting in 2022, and it has enabled cost savings in the manufacturing process of the battery pack, since it doesn’t require each cell to be physically connected to be monitored.
