General Motors to Develop Electric Motors to Further Its Expertise in the EV Realm

General Motors to Develop Electric Motors to Further Its Expertise in the EV Realm

By Scott Doggett August 13, 2009

General Motors is planning on adding electric motor development and manufacturing to its list of electric-vehicle specialities that it hopes to bring in-house, in order to further its expertise in the field as the electrification of the automobile continues.

GM reps attending the Plug-In 2009 conference in Long Beach, California, this week said the automaker wants to begin making its own electric motors in-house in order to use its own technology to try and save money, weight, and power consumption, while boosting performance.

The first application of the GM-designed and -built motors is likely to be in the Two-Mode hybrid powertrain system for the upcoming front-wheel-drive Buick CUV that was originally slated to be a Saturn.

Breaking With Tradition

Traditionally, automakers have relied on their varying expertise in powertrains to differentiate themselves from one to the other. GM's expertise in automatic transmissions, for instance, or BMW's in straight-six engines has provided notable selling point discriminators between vehicles that companies can point to as sources of excellence when selling a vehicle.

But with powertrains changing so dramatically with the onset of electrification, a whole new skill set must be learned to the point of expertise - and in some ways, GM is behind.

Toyota is the unquestionable leader in hybrid technology for instance, having had the Prius hybrid vehicle on the road for over a decade now, and over a million vehicles sold.
 
That level of real world information on how electric systems hold up and the performance characteristics they possess is invaluable, and something that nearly every other automaker is rushing to catch up to.
 
GM hopes to leapfrog its competition by introducing the Volt extended-range electric vehicle, and is rapidly improving its skill set through a rushed development of the vehicle.

But continuing to develop its in-house expertise in electric vehicle systems is likely to continue at an even faster pace now.

Scott Doggett:  is an AutoObserver.com Associate Editor.