GM follows Ford by making a big energy bet - but here's the quirky twist

By Claudia Assis

GM revamps energy business and places big bet on sodium-ion batteries

An electric GMC Hummer at a GM factory in Michigan. The automaker wants to go deeper into the battery-storage business.

General Motors is revamping its energy business and placing a big bet on a lesser-known battery type right after Ford Motor got a major boost from making a similar move a few weeks ago.

GM said late Tuesday it was expanding its commercial-scale battery-storage business, with plans to develop and deploy sodium-ion batteries for grid applications in a partnership with Peak Energy, a privately held company based in California and Colorado.

GM's stock (GM) turned higher in the extended session Tuesday after the announcement.

EVs and countless other electronic devices mostly use lithium-based batteries. But sodium-ion batteries' materials cost less and the batteries are engineered for longevity and high-cycle life, GM said. It's the right battery for stationary storage, it added.

Sodium-ion batteries are not new, as they were first developed in 1980s, but have been slower to catch up, according to the International Energy Agency. That is starting to change, however, as more companies invest in sodium-ion batteries with an eye toward better performance in cold climates and reducing exposure to volatility from lithium prices, the IEA said.

GM also inked a deal with Redwood Materials for battery recycling and "second-life" battery packs.

Ford (F) struck a chord with Wall Street when it announced on May 11 a new subsidiary focusing on stationary battery storage, taking a page from Tesla.

Both GM and Ford have struggled with their EV businesses and are attempting to branch out. Markets were skeptical of Ford Energy at first but after a couple of days - and a Morgan Stanley note praising the new business and Ford's decision to invest in the energy-storage market - Ford shares shot up.

The stock has gained 25% since the announcement and Ford's market cap jumped from about $48 billion to the current $61 billion.

GM created GM Energy back in 2022, but the business has not captured Wall Street's imagination the way Ford Energy just did.

Ford's May announcement "was a significant first step in diversifying away from its traditional auto-manufacturing business," said Garrett Nelson, an analyst with CFRA.

Unlike the auto business and its lower margins, high capital costs and "significant" labor-related risks, the stationary energy business has "much greater growth prospects," he said. Ford is also building a battery factory in partnership with China's CATL, which is viewed as giving the automaker a competitive edge in the battery energy-storage market, Nelson added.

-Claudia Assis

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

06-09-26 1720ET