That General Motors is keen on investing big into future electric vehicle development is no surprise. We've seen its progression from Volt to Bolt, then Ultium technology, and now the Hummer EV and Cadillac Lyriq. Even with all that, though, it seems that we have grossly underestimated GM's commitment to Sparkle Motion.
What do we mean? Well, GM announced on Thursday that it would be investing upwards of $27 billion in future electric vehicle development, and that it had plans to debut as many as 30 new EVs globally by 2025. If that seems insane, then you're not used to thinking on a GM scale. What's even wilder is that the planned investment has actually gone up -- not down -- since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
If that sounds like a crap-ton of money, it is. GM claims that half of its capital expenditures going forward will be on electric and electric-autonomous vehicle development. Part of that will go toward hiring 3,000 people in the fields of electrical system design, infotainment software and controls engineering, and developers for Java, Android, iOS and other platforms.
This renewed EV fanaticism (coupled with continued development on the platform) has led GM engineers to bump their estimates for the maximum range of an Ultium-based EV from 400 miles to 450 miles. That's not bad, but things won't stop there.
There are already plans for a second Ultium generation in development. GM estimates that it will be able to deliver twice the energy density at half the cost of current battery chemistries. What's wilder still is that it plans to have Ultium 2 ready around 2025 as well. Beyond just purely battery-electric EVs, GM also plans to continue developing its Hydrotec fuel-cell system on which it's partnered with Honda.
The bottom line is that EVs are likely here to stay, and with his kind of large-scale investment from major automotive manufacturers, they're probably going to get a lot better in the not-too-distant future.
