General Motors has made a $60 million investment in a Silicon Valley-based battery materials company in an effort to speed up the process of acquiring affordable EV batteries, the Detroit Free Press reports.

The company, called Mitra Chem, specializes in the innovation of AI-enabled battery materials. The company will work with GM to develop advanced iron-based cathode active materials, such as lithium manganese iron phosphate.

These materials will be used to create affordable batteries for GM's Ultium EV propulsion system, which includes the GMC Hummer EV pickup and SUV and the Cadillac Lyriq.

With the investment, GM hopes for Mitra Chem to accelerate in building its operations and to get innovative battery materials to market faster.

“This is a strategic investment that will further help reinforce GM’s efforts in EV batteries, accelerate our work on affordable battery chemistries ... and support our efforts to build a U.S.-focused battery supply chain,” said Gil Golan, GM’s vice present of technology acceleration and commercialization.