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GM Reveals All-New Flexible Platform and Ultium Batteries

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GM reveals all-new flexible platform and Ultium Batteries.

General Motors’ all-new modular platform and Ultium batteries will be the heartbeat of its all-electric future – powering electric vehicles in every segment to meet the needs of every person.

General Motors’ vision of a world with zero emissions will be powered by a future where every vehicle is an electric vehicle. Customers are ready for this change, and third-party forecasters expect U.S. EV volumes to reach about 3 million units on average by 2030.

To contribute to a better planet and scale its future EV portfolio at a rapid pace, GM revealed an all-new modular platform and Ultium batteries during a week-long event at the GM Design Dome. Nearly 2,000 employees, investors, dealers, policymakers and media traveled to Warren, Michigan to see the technology firsthand.

General Motors reveals its all-new modular platform and battery system, Ultium, Wednesday, March 4, 2020 at the Design Dome on the GM Tech Center campus in Warren, Michigan. (Photo by Steve Fecht for General Motors)

Mary Barra, GM Chair and CEO.

Our team accepted the challenge to transform product development at GM and position our company for an all-electric future.

“What we have done is build a multi-brand, multi-segment EV strategy with economies of scale that rivals our full-size truck business with much less complexity and even more flexibility.”

A Flexible Global Platform

GM’s platform, which features modular battery and drive unit combinations, is flexible enough to build a wide range of trucks, SUVs, crossovers, cars and commercial vehicles with outstanding design, performance, packaging, range and affordability.

Combined with the Power of GM’s Ultium Batteries, Select Vehicles Could:

  • Enable a GM-estimated electric range up to 450 miles2 on a full charge with 0-60 mph3 in as low as 3 seconds
  • Have energy ranges from 50 to more than 200 kWh
  • Support front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, or all-wheel drive applications

The key building blocks of the Ultium battery system are large scale, high-energy ce lls that will be the best large-format cells in the industry. Engineered in partnership with LG Energy Solution, they use both advanced chemistry and a smart cell design that’s optimized for a broad portfolio of EVs.

1Initial availabilities are as follows: GMC HUMMER EV (Fall 2021), Cadillac LYRIQ (First Half of 2022), and GMC HUMMER EV SUV (Early 2023). Chevrolet Silverado electric pickup availability announced at a later date.

2GM estimated. EPA estimates not available. Vehicle range may vary based on several factors, including temperatures, terrain, battery age, and vehicle use and maintenance

3GM estimated. Based on initial vehicle movement.

Banded together, multiple cells form a battery module, and a cluster of battery modules make up a battery pack. The flat shape stacks efficiently, allowing for less wasted space, fewer electrical configurations and a simplified cooling system.

Ultium is so unique that it can contain either vertically- or horizontally-stacked cells to integrate into vehicle design – vertically for trucks, SUVs and crossovers, or horizontally for cars and performance vehicles.

It gets even better with Ultium’s innovative feature – digital programming. As new chemistry is developed and becomes available, the battery management system could digitally update the modules.

The drive unit strategy is also modular, enabling the front-, rear- and all-wheel drive variations. The motors were designed in-house at GM, and the modular platform is the first of its kind to support both front- and rear-wheel drive variants.

Lower Costs, Higher Potential

Together the improved chemistry, efficient design, battery and drive unit flexibility, along with GM’s ability to manufacture at scale in its joint venture with LG Energy Solution, will allow GM to make remarkable progress in driving down costs for customers.

The cost won’t be the only attractive element. The battery design allows GM’s creative designers to reimagine vehicle styling. Starting from the ground up, less space needed for batteries means more room for people – leading to better passenger comfort and bolder, more dynamic exteriors designed to improve aerodynamics for greater vehicle efficiency.

Ultimately, the modular platform enables GM to craft EVs that are safe, beautiful, affordable and fun to drive.

General Motors’ All-Electric Future

Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC will be launching new EVs soon. Models will stretch across every vehicle segment to meet the EV needs of every person.

GM has defined how people travel for more than a century and is looking forward to reimagining mobility in the next 25, 50 and 100 years. EVs make the world a better place today and will for generations to come.

READ the latest Batteries News shaping the battery market

GM Reveals All-New Flexible Platform and Ultium Batteries, November 19, 2021

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