DETROIT — Saying that it expects electric motors to become as important as internal-combustion engines in short order, General Motors on Tuesday said it is poised to design and manufacture electric motors for vehicles in the U.S.
It said the first GM-designed and -built electric motors are "scheduled to debut in 2013 in next-generation, rear-wheel-drive Two-mode Hybrid technology." Those vehicles are expected to include the Chevrolet Tahoe hybrid SUV.
GM said those next-generation vehicles "will use two unique [electric] motor designs and an internal-combustion engine to provide improved fuel efficiency compared with the current Two-mode Hybrid technology in GM's full-size pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles." It did not predict what kind of fuel efficiency the new technology will return.
"In the future, electric motors might become as important to GM as engines are now," said Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman, global product operations, in a statement. "By designing and manufacturing electric motors in-house, we can more efficiently use energy from batteries as they evolve, potentially reducing cost and weight — two significant challenges facing batteries today."
GM said the new initiative will make it "the first major U.S. automaker to manufacture electric motors."
Inside Line says: GM hustles to be one of the pioneers in automotive electric motors, throwing down the gauntlet to its domestic and foreign competitors. — Anita Lienert, Correspondent
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fire25 says:
10:27 AM, 01/26/2010
Back in the 90's they rejected hydrid technology as something that will never work or catch on...they made and destroyed their own electric car...slow going on new techs for more fuel efficiency...yeah, they know what they are doing, I think Not...
charlesb says:
08:19 AM, 01/26/2010
I doubt G.M. will ever be a leader in the hybrid game, irrespective, of the how cutting-edge their motor designs are. The prices of the current two-modes that they sell are totally out of whack with the fuel saved.