General Motors is about to get very serious about electric vehicles. It's hosting an EV event this week to preview some of the new electric vehicles it has planned and the technologies making them possible. The all-new modular electric platform and Ultium batteries will spawn a variety of vehicles in the coming years, including the all-electric Hummer redux and a new Cadillac SUV. Those vehicles will start showing their battery-illuminated faces in just a few weeks' time.
"Our team accepted the challenge to transform product development at GM and position our company for an all-electric future," says Mary Barra, GM chairman and CEO. "What we have done is build a multi-brand, multi-segment EV strategy with economies of scale that rival our full-size truck business with much less complexity and even more flexibility."
That multipronged strategy all begins with GM's flexible third-generation global EV platform based around proprietary Ultium batteries. Developed in collaboration with LG Chem, the battery cells can stack vertically or horizontally, giving GM full freedom in designing packs around the energy and packaging requirements of individual vehicles. The packs will offer capacities between 50- and 200-kWh, leading to estimated ranges of 400 miles (644 km) or more and 0-60 mph (96.5 km/h) times as low as three seconds. Most EVs will have 400-V battery packs with 200-kW fast-charging capability, while trucks will have 800-V packs with 350-kW fast-charging.
Couple those batteries with modular propulsion, and the new electric architecture will pave the way for a healthy family of SUVs, crossovers, affordable cars, sedans, trucks and commercial vehicles across the GM auto brand portfolio. GM will tailor output and driving capabilities to specific vehicles by configuring the in-house-developed e-motors in front-wheel, rear-wheel, all-wheel and performance all-wheel drives.
If battery and chassis reveals don't spike your blood pressure, the first vehicles of this new Ultium-powered EV era might do a better job piquing your interest. Technically things already got underway in January, when the first Ultium-powered vehicle debuted in the form of the Cruise Origin autonomous pod. April will bring the debut of the Cadillac Lyriq SUV, and the much-anticipated GMC-badged electric Hummer pickup truck will follow on May 20.
GM's first new electric vehicles coming to market will be a new version of the Chevrolet Bolt later this year, followed by a Bolt EUV in mid 2021. The EUV will become the first vehicle outside the Cadillac family to include the Super Cruise hands-free automated driving system, a feature that will extend to 22 vehicles by 2023.
Reports from those attending GM's event this week, such as Car and Driver, reveal other EVs in GM's pipeline include a GMC Hummer SUV with removable hard-top and a flagship Cadillac called the Celestiq.
Source: General Motors
