Meet the Ultium Drive Family, the Interchangeable Powerplant Lineup for the Next Generation of GM Electric Vehicles

Only one question when do crate motors and transmissions go on sale?

Not to be a pessimist, but once every brand electrifies does the drive unit make much difference anymore?  For generations, the powertrain has been a big differentiator between entry-level, up-market and exotic brands or even between models within the same brand.  I'm sensing that a lot of niche models and brands are about to lose much of their appeal.

The fact that GM is so crate-friendly makes me very hopeful.

I think the drive unit will still make a difference. It's not like there's a shortage of V6s in a certain size range today, for example. They all vary a bit in terms of ultimate power and efficiency and noise, and expect that to remain. EVs may distinguish themselves on efficiency (which is not range, but sorta related), charging speed and general NVH control. That last is a place where high dollar stuff can set itself apart, because it's going to come down to how well the car is sorted out aerodynamically and how much sound deadening there is.

And heck, GM uses the same basic engine in a high-end Cadillac, a Corvette, minivans and V8 Silverados. Somehow, those cars still get differentiated.

I'm so torn about this. On the one hand, the one thing GM does really well is powertrains (SBC, BBC, LS, LT, Ecotec, etc, etc). On the other hand, GM has a sordid history with anything remotely electric-drive related (EV-1, "mild hybrid" SUV's, Volt/Bolt, etc). I'd also like to point out that at this point the Tesla Model S has been out for 9 model years (12-21). By the time these GM's hit the road it will be what, 24? 25?

In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :

The problem is not the power train in EV's they are proven stone reliable and more powerful than most.  
The problem is marketing. 
     On first glance EV's seem expensive.  In reality they are very affordable when you factor in maintenance and fuel costs. But to do that would have pulled down their profit center -  Trucks. 
         Americans tend to be followers. Preferring the comfort of the familiar over the rewards offered by the unknown. 

This and the nearly wireless integration stuff really makes GMs approach seem pretty well thought out to me. It seems like they're planning this approach so they can really vary the number of vehicles that use a very similar platform with minimal integration (ie-less engineering time/money) needed. That helps to spread development costs out and reduce the $/kwh of their batteries too which should lead to either lower prices or increased profits.

You don't do all of this groundwork, and spend billions on a new battery plant, and sign agreements with other OEMs to be their battery supplier, unless you're actually planning on making a whole lot of these batteries/EVs. The Volt and Bolt both seem like pretty well executed examples of EV tech, but they were developed in a time when building EVs was super expensive. I'd wager that's a big part of why the Volt and Bolt were small, economy cars and not popular CUVs which would've sold in higher numbers. Seems like GM's finally comfortable enough with EV production costs to really try to tackle this on a large scale and chase profits.

frenchyd said:

In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :

The problem is not the power train in EV's they are proven stone reliable and more powerful than most.  
The problem is marketing. 
     On first glance EV's seem expensive.  In reality they are very affordable when you factor in maintenance and fuel costs. But to do that would have pulled down their profit center -  Trucks. 
         Americans tend to be followers. Preferring the comfort of the familiar over the rewards offered by the unknown. 

I don't think OEMs were afraid of hurting truck sales with EVs, I think battery costs were too high to justify the investment on a large scale. But cost per kwh continues to drop and demand (or at least public interest) in EVs has grown. Trucks are going to be the next EV battleground.

Ford released some info recently on the upcoming Electric F150, and the language in their release is clearly geared toward fleet buyers. That's a great target for electric trucks since they're more likely to focus on total cost of ownership than what's likely to be a high initial purchase price, most fleet vehicles return to a central location over night where they could charge, and fleet buyers don't care a bit about flashy looks or on stage antics during a product reveal. The only things that matter to a fleet buyer are uptime and total cost of ownership. It has to work as much as possible with as little maintenance as possible. That's where an EV is going to sell well. And eventually, when those trucks are out in the field and the cowboy cos-players see actual working class people doing "truck things" with their EVs, they'll become a bit more desirable to the typical truck buyer too.

I like it if GM tightly controls manufacturing of the electric motors. I am excited for all the torques. Far as I've heard the Volt is a well engineered and durable vehicle. It'd be cool to see a metamorphosis of GM as an American company. 

My concern would be GM doing like other publicly traded companies (cough elevator industry cough) and getting in a race to the bottom by putting a premium on price - buying motors as commodities. If they do that, be very aware of your warranty expiration date and proceed accordingly. 

frenchyd said:

In reply to Javelin (Forum Supporter) :
     On first glance EV's seem expensive.  In reality they are very affordable when you factor in maintenance and fuel costs.

You know I keep hearing that sales pitch for EV, but I'm still sceptical, especially with the relative infancy of the technology.  Some friends of ours have a Model S and they spent $10k in repairs and maintenance on the stupid thing in the first year. Meanwhile we bought a used Honda Odyssey with 100k mi. on it. I changed the timing belt and water pump shortly after purchase as regular maintenance which set me back less than $200. Other than that two oil changes a year is all that it has needed and we've driven the wheels off it. We're coming up on 150k mi.

The problem with "the unknown" in the auto industry is that it tends to screw over the consumer. People don't like being hung out to dry when vehicles are so ridiculously expensive.

Watching the ICE parts of the industry for as long as I've been into cars has taught me to never buy the first year of anything. Why should I be the guinea pig?

Last, I'm a mechanic. My repair costs are low. It's going to take me an awful long time to eat up the equivalent cost of a new EV in fuel and parts on my conventional vehicles.

I'm a tiny minority but all this adds up to me never buying a new vehicle, let alone an EV.