GM said today it will expand its in-house electric vehicle development capabilities to design and manufacture electric motors for hybrids and electric vehicles.
In doing so, GM said it will lower costs and improve performance, quality, reliability and manufacturability of electric motors.
Reuters reported the cost of the new facility to be $246 million. The site is to be announced later in the week.
The first GM-designed and built electric motors are scheduled to debut in 2013 in rear-wheel-drive Two-mode Hybrid technology. The company said the technology will use
two unique motor designs and an internal combustion engine to provide
improved fuel efficiency compared with the current Two-mode Hybrid
technology in GM’s full-size pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles.
In addition to growing in-house capabilities, GM will continue to purchase and co-design electric motors with suppliers.
"In the future, electric motors might become as important to GM as
engines are now," Stephens said. "By designing and manufacturing
electric motors in-house, we can more efficiently use energy from
batteries as they evolve, potentially reducing cost and weight–two
significant challenges facing batteries today."
GM’s new production faciility will be supported in part by the $105-million grant awarded in August by the U.S. Department of Energy. "The new GM is about speed, and we are delivering quickly on the government’s desire to grow domestic expertise in electric vehicle technologies, such as batteries and electric motors," Stephens said.
After emerging from bankruptcy proceeding in July 2009, GM is now majority-owned by the US government. GM shares are not currently available to the public, though an initial public offereing is reportedly planned for later in 2010.
"Our goal is simply to establish GM as a leader in automotive electric motors. We see that leadership as a key enabler–both to our long-term success and to our nation’s move away from oil dependence," Stephens said.
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