As part of a $27 billion initiative to match or surpass Tesla Inc. in the electric vehicle sector, General Motors Co. is working with “all the best startups”. They have been working on the next-gen EV battery technology which plans the big boost in production capacity for its new Ultium battery system.
Doug Parks, GM’s executive vice president of global product development said, “We’re partnering with some great companies. But we’re also looking outside the company to startups to get on the front edge of that learning curve.” These companies mainly include Honda Motor and LG Chem.
GM collaborating with Honda
Speaking at an investor conference, Parks confirmed that GM is continuing the work with Honda to build its relationship. It has been known that Honda is jointly developing several future electric vehicles.
Mary Barra, GM Chief Executive, declared the automaker had boosted its expenditure budget on electric and automated vehicles from $20 billion to $27 billion through 2025. GM has planned some 20 models for North America by 2025.
GM to capitalize on-demand?
“There’s an opportunity for more,” Parks said. “We could extend that relationship to other segments,” including sharing combustion-engine vehicles and platforms with Honda. The startup companies referred by Parks have not yet been specified. Additionally, GM has recently stated it would capitalize on an on-demand car maintenance company Yoshi. Also, the augmented reality technology company Envisics has been approached. Both these companies could provide tech development for GM’s line of EVs concerning services and features.
The next-generation Cadillac infotainment UI was recently unveiled by GM. This was developed by Territory Studio and Rightpoint. “We’re going to need more capacity [for batteries],” Parks said. “So there’s more investment coming after the initial wave in Ohio.”
Globally, industry leader Tesla last year sold just fewer than 500,000 EVs.