GM building giant battery development lab in Detroit suburb

WARREN, Mich.: General Motors says it's building a huge new electric vehicle battery lab in Michigan where scientists will work on chemistry to cut costs 60% over current vehicles and allow people to travel 500 to 600 miles (800 to 965 kilometers) per charge.

Structural steel already is in place for the 300,000-square-foot (28,000-square-meter) lab on the grounds of GM's Technical Center in the Detroit suburb of Warren.

Executives say the lab will be operational by mid-to-late next year and will house hundreds of engineers and others who will work on battery innovations and how to manufacture them.