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General Motors to stop manufacturing Chevy Bolt EV and EUV

General Motors will end the production of its Chevy Bolt EV and EUV vehicles by the end of this year, according to chair and CEO Mary Barra. In a recent call with shareholders reported on by CNBC, Barra shared GM’s plans to phase out the two models.

The Bolt EV and EUV are both based on an older generation of battery cell technology. GM has since pivoted to using its new and improved Ultium batteries in all its electric vehicles.

It makes sense for the company to want to consolidate its production efforts using single-battery technology. This is doubly the case when you consider the safety issues GM has been dealing with in the outgoing tech.

GM first doubled down on its all-electric future with a rebranding in 2021.

Beyond the shareholder call, a Q1 2023 letter to shareholders is available to read online.

Source: CNBC Via: Engadget

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GM opens Canada’s first full-scale EV plant in Ontario

The GM CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, is the first full-scale electric vehicle (EV) plant in Canada, and it’s making electric delivery vehicles for DHL and other companies.

GM has been on a mission to re-tool the CAMI plant for EVs since May 2022, from making Equnoix crossovers to the new Brightdrop Zevo 600 delivery vans. This is GM’s fastest rework of a plant and ideally means that others can be refurbished in less than a year.

If you’re asking yourself, “what is Brightdrop?” you can find more information in our previous coverage. That said, the short of it is that Brightdrop is GM’s branding for electric logistics solutions, including delivery vans or warehouse tools.

Once the plant reaches full scale, it should produce around 50,000 EVs annually. Then, once production starts picking up for the Brightdrop delivery vehicles, there are plans to build the smaller Zevo 400 in the factory.


This is a notable achievement for Canada since it helps solidify our EV manufacturing supply chain on the world stage. At the event, Prime Minister Trudeau mentioned that over the past few years, Canada has moved from 5th in the world to 2nd in terms of battery supply chains. With a company like GM willing to revamp a plant in Ontario, it sets the stage for other automakers to follow suit.

Canada’s vast mineral wealth, new refinement factories and now EV assembly workforce will be hard to ignore as more automakers look to step into the world of electric vehicles.

For the Canadian workforce, that’s good news, as CBC reports that 400 people currently work on the assembly line, but the plant could scale up to as many as 1,600 by the end of 2023 if things go well in the coming months.

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GM is building an electric Corvette

In a recent tweet, Chevrolet has shared that it’s electrifying the Corvette.

It appears that the automaker will”electrify” the Corvette, likely with some sort of hybrid turbo “as early as next year” and then a fully electric version will follow.

The EV version of the Corvette is what’s more exciting, and if GM can capture any of the magic  Porsche packed into the Taycan with its EV sportscar, then drivers are in for a real treat.

Unfortunately, it appears that the new EV Corvette will feature the company’s modern Vet design with sharp angular features that follow modern design trends.

In August of 2020, the auto company filed a patent for the word “E-Ray,” suggesting that the electric Corvette will utilize some of the classic Stingray’s design characteristics. However, according to the video attached to its latest tweet, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

The car still looks hawt, but given this is the first Corvette EV, I would prefer a more bespoke design. I understand that keeping the Hybrid/Gas vehicles and the EVs similar gives drivers choice, but I still feel automakers should take that extra step to make their EVs stand out.

For example, GM adopted this strategy with its GMC Hummer EV and the upcoming Cadillac Lyric. 

Source: Chevrolet

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Autonomous car pulled over by police in San Francisco

Welcome to the future.

A video posted to Instagram earlier this month by user @b.rad916 reveals what happened when police attempted to stop an autonomous car in San Francisco, California.

In the video, the car operated by self-driving vehicle company Cruise is pulled over with a police vehicle behind it. The officer walks towards the driver’s side of the vehicle, only for it to zoom away, before crossing the intersection and pulling over yet again with its hazard lights on.

Cruise, a company owned by General Motors (GM), responded to the video on Twitter, stating that the autonomous car pulled over to the nearest “safe location for the traffic stop, as intended.” Cruise says that the officer contacted the company. It’s still unclear why the autonomous vehicle was pulled over.

Image credit: Screenshot @b.rad916

Source: @Cruise, @b.rad916

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GM and Honda to co-develop affordable Electric Vehicles

Detroit-based General Motors and the Minato, Tokyo-based Honda Motor Company announced a new partnership today that will see the two companies co-develop “a series of affordable electric vehicles” using GM’s Ultium EV battery pack.

The partnership, which will bring millions of affordable EVs on the road will start bearing fruits in 2027, with the two automotive staples working towards “standardizing equipment and processes to achieve world-class quality, higher throughput and greater affordability” throughout their EV lineup, along with improving their EV battery tech to improve performance, cut down costs and lead in a sustainable fashion.

“This is a key step to deliver on our commitment to achieve carbon neutrality in our global products and operations by 2040 and eliminate tailpipe emissions from light duty vehicles in the U.S. by 2035. By working together, we’ll put people all over the world into EVs faster than either company could achieve on its own,” said Mary Barra, GM chair and CEO in the company’s release about the partnership.

The USA and Japan-based companies’ partnership doesn’t come out of the blue.

The two joined forces back in 2018 for GM’s EV Battery Module development and announced later in 2020 plans to co-develop two EVs, one of them being the Honda Prologue, scheduled to release in 2024. Further, the two companies are also working with Cruise (GM has a majority stake in Cruise) on the development of the Cruise Origin, one of the world’s first purpose-built completely autonomous cars for ride-hailing and delivery.

Source: GM

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GM looking to stop dealerships from marking up electric vehicle prices

As more and more traditional car companies start selling desirable EVs, an issue has sprung up where dealerships arbitrarily mark up the prices of these cars.

To curb this, GM has sent a letter to its dealerships warning dealers against price raises. Offenders will have vehicle inventory redirected away from their lots. This follows a letter Ford sent to its dealerships regarding dealer markups on the F-150 Lightning.

GM’s letter says that “specifically it has come to our attention that some dealerships have attempted to demand money above and beyond the reservation amount set in GM’s program rules and have requested customers pay sums far in excess of MRSP in order to purchase or lease a vehicle,” according to a leaked letter on SilvarodoEvolution.com.

This appears to be happening at only a few dealerships, but as these exciting electric vehicles come out amid the global supply chain constraints, GM needs to stop this from becoming the norm. Especially since EVs are already more expensive than their gasoline-powered equivalents.

Source: Silverado Evolution 

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Chevy Silverado EV to enter production in 2023, estimated 600km+ range

There are so many electric vehicles (EVs) on the horizon over the next few years that it’s hard to keep track of them all, but in the race to build the first show-stealing electric truck, Chevy might end lagging behind the competition after confirming plans to start production on the electric Silverado truck in 2023.

While 2023 isn’t very far away, this date is still after Ford’s impressive Lighting F-150 and Tesla’s futuristic-looking Cybertruck.

However, perhaps I’ll change my tune when GM shows off the truck in a month at CES 2022 in Las Vegas. This will be the first electric truck under the Chevy brand and is expected to feature the same Ultium battery platform that the automaker is using in the electric Humer. This should give it substantial range and charging capabilities to compete with other flagship EVs currently on the market.

GM estimates around 400 miles (643km) of range from 100 percent charged and has shared that the truck will offer a glass roof option and all-wheel drive.

Source: Autonews Via: The Verge 

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GM building 40,000 EV chargers across Canada and the U.S.

General Motors is getting in the fight to convince more drivers that range anxiety is a thing of the past with the launch of 40,000 prospective level-2 EV chargers spread across Canada and the U.S.

The charger incentive is set to begin in 2022, and the automaker is investing $750 million to expand its charging infrastructure. To keep in mind: GM plans to build 40,000 chargers, not 40,000 charging stations. Since each station usually has 1-3 chargers at it, these 40,000 chargers could be as small as 13,000-20,000 stations across the continent.

I’ll also note that while Level-2 stations are useful to have at places where you park for prolonged periods of time, like work or home, it will still take hours to fill up your car.

To start its charger rollout, the company will task its dealer network with finding locations in its communities that could benefit from a Level-2 charger. This could include local sportsplexes, multi-unit dwellings, and other key places. It’s also important to note that the GM is going to make these chargers available to all EV owners, not just General Motors vehicles. Each dealership is also slated to get 10 chargers.

The company is also going to be selling three different level two chargers at its dealership so customers can set up a charger at home if they purchase a new EV. In the past, GM was offering free level-2 charger installations with Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV purchases. After the recent Bolt recalls, that might be the best thing Bolt owners got for buying their cars.

The three new chargers are going to be Ultium-branded to match GM’s future battery tech. The base model is a 48-amp smart charger, the middle option is also 48-amps, but GM is calling it a Premium charger. The final option is an 80-amp model called the Premium Smart charger.

GM says the premium models also have a camera built into them and a touchscreen to make them a little more secure and easier to use. According to GM, these chargers will start shipping in early 2022, but the company hasn’t shared any pricing yet.

Overall, it’s nice to see GM show off some new chargers, but to actually help people with range anxiety and traveling on long trips, we need more fast chargers. So while GM is installing lots of slower chargers, it would have been nice for the automaker to at least install one or two fast chargers in each town that has a dealership as well.

Source: GM

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LG to pay for GM’s Chevy Bolt recall

GM may be struggling to recall and replace almost all of its Chevy Bolt batteries, but a new report claims that the automaker won’t be footing the bill.

A report from Engadget says that LG will offset $1.9 billion USD (roughly, $2.3 billion CAD). GM estimates that the recall will cost $2 billion USD (about $2.5 billion CAD), so while the automaker has to pay a bit, LG covers the bulk of the cost.

This deal is likely GM trying to push the blame from its failing cars onto LG, who built the defective batteries. Hopefully, this will work, and consumers won’t turn on GM’s EV offerings.

If you’re unfamiliar, GM has calling back the Chevy Bolt EUV and car since some models were suffering from battery fires. The recall started with only some models but quickly extended to include many more Bolt models than originally anticipated.

GM says that it will have the recall refunded later, so it will be reflected in its Q3 2021 earnings report.

Source: Engadget

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GM reveals Ultra Cruise, a more advanced semi-self-driving system

General Motors has shown off some aspects of its new upgraded semi-autonomous driving system called Ultra Cruise.

The system promises to be a huge leap over GM’s current hands-free driver assistance program Super Cruise. However, the automaker notes that this isn’t an upgrade on Super Cruise, but, rather, a more premium option reserved for more expensive vehicles.

However, that’s good news for upper-class Canadians since the new software can apparently work on 95 percent of roads in the country. With the goal of making it work on every street in both countries eventually.

Ultra Cruise needs more sensors than Super Cruise to create accurate 3D representations of the world around it. This allows it to work on over two million miles of roads now, potentially working on over three million in the future. However, it’s still considered a level-two autonomous system, so it won’t be full self-driving just yet.

However, the company didn’t mention when this feature comes or what vesicles under what GM sub-brand will have it.

On top of the Ultra Cruise announcement, GM also talked about its plans to retool its company with more of a software focus to help drive growth moving into the future.

Source: GM