CarSeekBlog

HybridCars.com, one of the leading authorities on trends in hybrid technology, is reporting that on Tuesday General Motors announced plans to open a $246 million facility dedicated to the construction of electric motors destined to power future hybrids. The first of these will likely appear in 2013 in two-mode, rear-wheel drive vehicles.

Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman, global product operations, told reporters, “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.” He also said that the American-made electric motors would offer increased affordability and reliability, in addition to being easier to build.

General Motors’ investment in electric motor technology has been funded, in part, by a $105 million grant received from the U.S. Department of Energy in August, 2009.

GM’s announcement cements the company’s commitment to it’s two-mode system, which, so far, has only been used in hybrid vehicles like the Chevy Tahoe Hybrid and Chevy Silverado Hybrid. According to a company representative, new motors will allow GM to apply its existing system to smaller vehicles, as the new motors would be smaller, but offer more power density.

Under current plans, the first electric motors produced in the new facility will go into two-mode hybrids, but GM has not completely eliminated the possibility of making motors for the Chevy Volt and other purely electric vehicles that might be planned for the future. Currently, the company is using a refurbished Michigan factory to assemble lithium ion cells supplied by South Korea’s LG Chem into battery packs for the Volt.

Filed under: Chevy, GM, Going Green by Mel