GM Bets on U.S. Battery Chain as Ford Faces China Backlash

General Motors is trying to turn battery chemistry into a geopolitical advantage, betting that sodium-ion cells can help it build a more American supply chain while Ford absorbs renewed scrutiny over its links to China.

Kurt Kelty, GM’s vice president for battery, propulsion and sustainability, told CNBC that the company is targeting domestic sourcing for future battery programs within two to three years. The plan centers first on stationary storage, where batteries for homes, utilities and data centers do not need to be as light or compact as automotive packs.

That distinction matters. Sodium-ion cells generally carry less energy by weight than lithium-ion batteries, but they can avoid lithium and some other minerals whose processing is heavily concentrated in China. GM is developing the technology with Peak Energy, a U.S. storage company backed by GM Ventures, and expects commercial production around 2029.

The company has committed about $900 million to battery research and development facilities near Detroit, including a cell-prototyping building larger than 500,000 square feet. GM says the same preference for domestic sourcing will extend to future electric-vehicle cells, although its current operations still rely on imported components in some applications.

The strategy gives GM a cleaner political narrative than Ford’s arrangement with Contemporary Amperex Technology, or CATL, the world’s largest battery maker. Ford owns and controls its BlueOval Battery Park Michigan plant in Marshall, but CATL licenses the lithium-iron-phosphate technology and provides technical services. Ford says the arrangement brings battery manufacturing and jobs to the United States while reducing reliance on imported finished cells.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy has taken a harsher view. In a September 2026 letter to Ford CEO Jim Farley, he cited “profound concern” over the company’s exposure to Chinese technology and partnerships. Farley called the criticism based on “basic misunderstandings” and “mistruths.”

The political dispute highlights a problem neither automaker can solve quickly. China still dominates much of the battery ecosystem, from materials processing to cell manufacturing. GM’s sodium-ion approach may reduce exposure, but it also pushes the company into a technology that has yet to reach broad commercial scale.

For investors, the contest is less about rhetoric than execution. Ford has a factory nearing production. GM is trying to build a different chain before demand for storage and affordable electric vehicles accelerates.