On Friday, the US Department of Energy (DOE) announced a total investment of $59 million for 43 projects for new and innovative advanced vehicle technologies research. General Motors gets $2 million of those. According to the DOE document, $1 million is for the "fundamental understanding of interfacial phenomena in solid-state batteries" and the other $1 million will go to research into "hot pressing of reinforced all-solid-state batteries with sulfide glass electrolyte." The sulfide glass electrolyte is one of the promising materials in the context of creating solid-state batteries that remain cool and safe in room-temperature conditions. Research and production of solid-state batteries are quite expensive at the moment, so such an investment might be very welcome by GM.Other organizations, each of which has received around $1M of investment and will work on various aspects of solutions for the development of lithium-metal solid-state batteries are the University of Maryland (College Park), Solid Power Inc, Iowa State University of Science and Technology, University of Michigan, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, West Virginia University Research Corporation, Pennsylvania State University, Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System on behalf of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wildcat Discovery Technologies, University of Houston, etc."Vehicles drive our national economy," said Under Secretary Menezes. "At DOE, we support a broad portfolio of technologies, generating the knowledge needed for industry to further develop and commercialize affordable, secure, and reliable transportation systems." Source

GM introduced a whole family of interchangeable drive units and motors for its future EVs General Motors has introduced a whole family of five drive units and three motors for its future EVs which can be interchanged for maximum flexibility. Dubbed Ultium Drive the system is expected to offer industry-leading torque and power density across a wide spectrum of different vehicle types. The GM Ultium Drive family covers front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive and all-wheel drive propulsion combinations...

GMC Hummer EV will be unveiled on October 20th, GM teases its Crab Mode At the end of July, GM said it will unveil the GMC Hummer EV this autumn. Today, the company specified the date - October 20th. It also teased the vehicle's Crab Mode - a four-wheel-steer system that allows it to move diagonally. Reservation books will be open on GMC.com after the event while mass production of the vehicle will begin in the autumn of 2021. The GMC Hummer EV will be based on the new GM BT1 electric...

GM's future EVs will arrive with the industry's first wireless battery management system General Motors announced that its future electric vehicles will arrive with the industry's first wireless battery management system (wBMS). The technology is developed in collaboration with Analog Devices, Inc. It is expected to drive GM's Ultium-powered EVs to market faster and its flexible basic structure can easily receive new features as software becomes available. With expanded OTA updates provided by GM's...

GM will manufacture Nikola Badger General Motors and Nikola have announced they made a strategic partnership. GM buys 11% from Nikola for $2 billion and receives the right to nominate one director. The company will engineer, validate, homologate and build the Nikola Badger for both the battery electric vehicle and fuel cell electric vehicle variants as part of the in-kind services. General Motors expects to receive in excess of $4 billion of...

LG Chem is supplying NCM712 batteries to Volkswagen for the ID.4 and Renault for the ZOE LG Chem is starting the production of new anode materials that will increase the range of EVs. These are found in the NCM711 batteries and according to "people familiar with the matter" who spole to The Elec on Monday, LG Chem's factory in Polan has already begun supplying Volkswagen for the ID.4 and Renault for the ZOE with such batteries. It is expected that the NCM712 batteries will replace the NCM622 ones in LG...

GM's Wuling launched the Hong Guang MINI EV in China GM's Wuling launched the Hong Guang MINI EV in China today. Depending on the variant (there are three of them), the model costs from CNY 28,800 to CNY 38,800. The vehicle is 2,917 mm long, 1,493 mm wide and 1,621 mm high, with a 1,940-mm wheelbase. The compact dimensions make it ideal for urban commuting and parking in tight spaces. However, the interior has up to 741 liters of space with the rear seats folded down...

GM will introduce the GMC Hummer EV this autumn, releases a teaser video Today General Motors announced that it will unveil the GMC Hummer EV this autumn. Reservation books will be open after the event while mass production of the vehicle will begin in the autumn of 2021. The announcement is accompanied by a short teaser video which states a number of basic facts about the GMC Hummer EV which are already known such as 1,000 hp of power and 11,500 lb.ft. of torque. The 0-60 mph...

The Ultium Cells battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio develops on schedule Today marks the beginning of steel construction at the all-new Ultium Cells LLC battery cell manufacturing facility in Lordstown. Ultium Cells LLC is a joint venture that will mass-produce Ultium battery cells for electric vehicles and create more than 1,100 new jobs in Northeast Ohio. Since May 2020, ground has been broken and concrete footings have been poured at the facility. Steel construction at Ultium Cells...

GM unveils in full the Buick Velite 7 EV in China with a range of 500 km (311 mi) GM has unveiled in full the Buick Velite 7 EV in China. The subcompact crossover has is powered by the Buick eMotion electric propulsion system, featuring a new modular high-performance 55.6kWh lithium-ion battery that is good for a range of up to 500 km (~ 311 mi). With DC fast charging the battery can be charged for a range of 210 km in 30 minutes. The electric motor is capable of producing 130 kW (175 hp) of...

GM unveils plans for new EVs and battery techs for 500-600 mi ranges According to GM's 2019 Sustainability Report, the company unveils plans for releasing at least 20 new electric vehicles by 2023. Here they are brand by brand: Chevrolet One of the new Chevrolet EVs will be a mid-sized SUV for the US market based on the new BEV3 platform which was unveiled earlier this year together with the new Ultium battery system. Another model will be the Chevrolet BET pickup truck with more...

GM will introduce more EVs in South Korea, continues close partnership with LG Chem GM plans on introducing more electric vehicles in South Korea, reports Yonhap. Jesse Ortega, chief engineer at GM's Autonomous and Electric Vehicle Programs held an online briefing with Korean media dedicated to the topic. Earlier this month, GM launched in South Korea the 2020 Chevy Bolt EV. General Motors will present two new EV models this year - the Cadillac Lyriq SUV and the Hummer EV. The company said it will...

GM's Wuling unveiled the interior of its Hong Guang Mini EV At the end of May, GM's Chinese brand Wuling teased twice its first all-electric vehicle, inspired by the Kei-Car in Japan. It first showed off renders of the exterior and afterward - renders of the interior. Today, GM unveiled real photos of the interior of the vehicle as well as its name - Hong Guang Mini EV. Wuling's Hong Guang Mini EV interior has simple lines matched with two-color textured fabrics. The...

GM and LG Chem name their joint venture for EV batteries Ultium Cells In December last year, GM and LG Chem confirmed that they will build an EV battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio. Today, GM announced that the joint venture created by the two companies for this project is named Ultium Cells LLC. Moreover, construction has started with group prep activities. Even in pandemic times, product development work on GM's future EV and AV portfolios continues to progress at a rapid pace. The...