One of the weaknesses of electric cars is that their batteries do not store enough energy to achieve high autonomies. That situation is in flux with new battery developments taking place, and General Motors doesn't want to be left behind.
That is why they have decided to create their own battery research center called the Wallace Battery Innovation Center as a tribute to one of their engineers (Bill Wallace) who died three years ago.
The 300,000-square-foot building will be built in Michigan within walking distance of one of its manufacturing plants, as the goal is for research developments to be quickly and easily brought to factories. You can see an image below.
What General Motors does is no different from what Volkswagen, Toyota, and other automotive greats do. They all need to have batteries for their vehicles and that these provide maximum energy so that cars can go further. And that's why they are all investing in the development and manufacture of new batteries.
In that new facility GM aims to achieve batteries that provide 1,200 watts per liter, which is more than double what is now achieved in the most advanced developments.
And something that they also aim at is that the battery cells can be stored vertically, to make better use of the physical spaces available in the vehicles.
Currently the batteries have the cells placed in a horizontal position, and therefore they are placed along the floor of the vehicle, which in many cases can be a constructive limitation for the car.
GM's goal is for its cars with their new batteries to reach 1,000 km. autonomy, which could give a decisive turn to the implementation of the electric car.
This research center does so with the participation of LG Chem, which is the largest Korean chemical company. Two “greats” get together to try to have great results. In this world no one stands still.
It must be recognized that General Motors despite being a very old company (it was created in 1908), is being updated rapidly, and not long ago it even changed its logo and adapted it for this new electric era that is already a reality.
You can see it a bit further down.
I wish the people of GM the best as they are moving to adapt to this new world of electric cars that can leave someone out of place.
No one is sure of their position in the market and each one must earn it every day.
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