Energy Efficiency, Energy Storage, Industrial  -  September 12, 2018 - By Mary Barra, General Motors

We believe in an all-electric future, here’s what we’re doing today to get there

Nearly a year ago, I announced General Motors’ vision of a future of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion. Why?

Over the last century, cars, trucks, and crossovers transformed our lives by giving us the freedom of mobility. But relying exclusively on internal combustion engines to power this freedom presents challenges.   

Today, we have a tremendous opportunity to help reduce these challenges by adding electric vehicles to our lineup. 

To help achieve this, in October 2017 we shared that we will launch 20 new all-electric vehicles globally by 2023. Thanks to our talented team, technology, and global scale, we’re on our way, while keeping our customers’ needs at the center of everything we do. 

The proof? It’s in our progress: 

• We announced a production increase of the Chevrolet Bolt EV. Our scale and global manufacturing capability help us satisfy customer demands faster and more efficiently, and we continue to leverage smart partnerships. To support the production increase, a new LG Electronics facility in Hazel Park, Mich., will start making battery packs this fall to supply our Orion Assembly Plant, also in Michigan, where we build the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt EV. 
• We expanded our battery lab. We’re now able to complete nearly all battery testing under one roof, reducing development time and cost. The significant expansion of this lab, already one of the largest in the world, brings the facility to more than 100,000 sq. ft. and includes new heavy and mild battery abuse test areas. Over the last decade, this lab, located at our Global Technical Center in Warren, Mich., helped bring the Chevrolet Volt, Spark EV and Bolt EV to life, and now it’s paving the way for an all-electric future. And we’re not done. Additional major enhancements begin this fall with new test chambers and advanced equipment to accelerate our next-generation battery architecture.
• We unveiled two EV entries in 2018. Since the October 2017 announcement, we revealed our first two new EV entries – the Buick Velite 6 EV and the Baojun E200. China is the world’s largest EV market and will be a large driver of global EV adoption.
• We’re looking ahead. We know our customers want shorter charging times, and we’re applying our technical savvy to help achieve this. One example – we’ll deliver a prototype vehicle capable of a 180-mile range with less than 10 minutes of charging to Delta Electronics for official testing as part of a new U.S. Department of Energy initiative. We also will continue seeking partners to help drive adoption and develop supporting infrastructure.

Creating a world of zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion won’t happen overnight, of course, but our journey to this future is underway. We have an unwavering commitment to invest in the technology to drive our all-electric future. And we have the right team, technology, partners and manufacturing scale to make it happen.

This is just the beginning.

Mary Barra is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of General Motors Company. She was elected Chairman of the GM Board of Directors in January 2016 and has served as CEO of GM since January 2014. Barra previously served as Executive Vice President, Global Product Development, Purchasing & Supply Chain and as Senior Vice President, Global Product Development. In these roles, Barra and her teams were responsible for the design, engineering, and quality of GM vehicle launches worldwide. She has also served as Vice President, Global Human Resources; Vice President, Global Manufacturing Engineering; Plant Manager, Detroit Hamtramck Assembly; and in several other executive engineering and staff positions.

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