GM EV Day!

Here are my notes from GM’s EV day presentation. Very impressive!

Live updates from EV Day:

• 2 new versions of the Bolt announced this year, available next year.
• 2 additional EVs for next year – Cadillac Lyric and Hummer SUVs
• new battery system called “Ultimum”
• Target: 1 million EVs per year per market (US, China)
• $3 billion+ per year investments in EV and AV
• All new vehicles will be profitable in their first generation
• expect below $100/kWh early in the platform lifecycle
• vertical integration of batteries and drive units
• looking to sell EVs to rideshare providers
• 3/4 of Bolt owners are new to GM, and are highly pleased
• Loyalty rate amongst lease customers is 78%
• EVs in every brand, body style, and price point
• Broad selection of EVs, convenient to charge, affordable to own, fun to drive
• They have ordered triple L2 charging stations and their own facilities, as research shows convenient access to workplace charging makes EV ownership more appealing
• Commit to everything sustainable with components ethically sourced and environmentally friendly as possible. Currently have re-use and recycling of 100% of returned batteries, and they support a grid that uses renewable energy. They have committed to all electricity by renewables in the US by 2030 and globally by 2040.
• > 3000 global patents related to EVs
• 1.5 billion investment in current campus in Warren. 20,000 people working towards an EV future right now.
• 335 different ICE powertrains needed to support their entire ICE lineup. Their entire lineup can be supported by only 19 EV combinations.
• One modular architecture, full sized trucks to crossovers to cars to self driving cars like the origin (AV).
• Estimated ranges up to 400 miles, 0-60 in 3 seconds, 50-200kWh, FWD, RWD, AWD configurations, 235-1000hp.
• New dedicated HV safety team, towards their target of 0 deaths from 0 accidents
• 0 crashes, 0 congestion, 0 emissions
• ?78%? of owners primarily charge at home (Sean:that sounds low?)
• SuperCruise is their hands-free driving, in 22 models by 2023, 10 by next year.
• Everything on stage are real development prototypes, will be on the road within a month or two.
• “We must create an EV ecosystem that makes owning an EV easy and fun” – they have plans and partnerships to make this a reality.

Ultium system:

• Modular platform designed from scratch, in no way related to ICE.
• Ultium system designed simultaneously with the platforms.
• One cell family across entire Ultium lineup.
• Chemistry “state of the art” NMCA chemistry. Higher nickle, lower cobalt (70% less) by adding aluminum.
• Sourcing as much from North America as possible, and cells will be made by GM right in Ohio with LG.
• New cell line “Dreamline 2.0” simplified stacking, shorter cycle times, faster formation times, less equipment to manufacture. Electrocoating lines are very interesting. Electrodes are 10 times thinner than aluminum foil. One roll is more than 1km long. Widest electrocoating lines in the industry. Assembly plant will be the size of 30 football fields, break ground this spring with ?70? GWh of capacity. Need to make 1/4 of a billion cells per year.
• Engineered best “large format cells in the industry”. New cells in Ultium are 60% larger than Bolt EV.
• 100Ah cells (quite wide, probably twice as wide as Bolt cells). 20 layers.
• Something about better conductivity with cold plate.
• Electronics are directly in the battery module, reducing 80% of wiring from Bolt EV.
• Digitally program module with chemistry that it contains. This will allow them to replace old modules with new modules with new chemistry.
• They are committed to re-using and recycling. They have done this with 100% of all batteries returned since 2013.
• Recycled battery material can become a new source for new batteries. Some material is even better than new after recycling.
• Working on Cathodes with 0 cobalt. Working on cathodes with 0 Nickel. Working on Zeolyte additives that improve battery life. The Maven fleet have vehicles 500,000 miles of battery life or more – by adding Zeolyte they are expecting to get up to 1 million miles.
• Solid state batteries are also being developed with twice the energy density. Build vehicles with 600 miles of range expected. This will be able to be integrated into Ultimum.
• Planned: Prelineation to reduce cycle costs and initial loss, Dry and fit electrode processing, and Innovative anodes with low cost and 4x faster charging. Looking at 1000Wh/L soon.
• They will beat the $100/kWh target that they set in 2015 “soon”, and they are nowhere near the bottom of the battery price curve.
• They will also support prismatic and cylindrical cells.
• Cells can be stacked horizontally or vertically – this can give thinner batteries for low height vehicles.
• At a single stack height, the battery can contain 6, 8, 10 or 12 modules. Truck packs – up to 24 modules in a double height pack, which is what they are using in the Hummer EV. All using the same cell type.
• Reduced weight of the pack for 25% and internal connections by 55% compared to the Bolt EV.
• E-AWD unit only engages when necessary to save efficiency.
• One common family of motors as well. 250kW motor rear drive unit, take 3, and put into the Hummer EV – highest level of power and performance ever seen, 1000hp.
• 1 cell family, 1 motor family, endless combinations.

Charging and infrastructure:

• Home, work and public
• GM has established smart partnerships and strategies in all 3 areas
• Home space: partner with Q-Merit and V2G technologies. Focus on renewable energy.
• With Q-Merit there will be one website to enter your details, get up to 3 quotes from local electricians.
• V2G working with utilities across the US.
• Can easily delay charging and focus on when renewables are available.
• Workplace charging: 6x more likely to consider an electric vehicle. They are putting in 3,500 more charging stations across GM facilities across US and Canada.
• Public fast charging is big piece of the puzzle, they are building “thousands of additional public fast stations” to fill out not only highway and corridor but also rural areas.
• Big focus on Energy Assist feature – will precisely look at HVAC, weather, conditions, terrain to predict your SoC at the destination. Integrate with EVGo, Chargepoint and ?? for realtime access in the app.
• Energy Assist will have new features every month.

[30 minute break as of 1:20pm]