Innovation has no secret for GM and after tapping into hybrid and electric engine technologies, fuel-cell is its next target. In an interview with Trucks.com, GM’s global fuel-cell business director Charles Freese seemed confident that hydrogen will become a next big step in transportation. General Motors has been involved in fuel-cell... GM fuel-cell chief talks about military truck, Honda deal to build hydrogen powertrains
Innovation has no secret for GM and after tapping into hybrid and electric engine technologies, fuel-cell is its next target. In an interview with Trucks.com, GM’s global fuel-cell business director Charles Freese seemed confident that hydrogen will become a next big step in transportation. General Motors has been involved in fuel-cell...
Automotive innovation rolls out over many years, usually decades, and usually only a few companies lead. Others hang back, waiting to see if buyers will accept new features, new powertrains, and new types of vehicles. More than six years after modern electric cars hit the market in volume, many automakers are only now deciding on their strategies...
It remains unclear whether Tesla will survive as an independent company, given that it's had exactly two profitable quarters in its 12-plus years of existence. And yet, last week, Tesla briefly passed General Motors to become the most valuable U.S. automaker by market capitalization. It had passed Ford last week, and long ago surpassed the value...
Regardless of the number of cars they've sold—fewer than the Renault-Nissan alliance—Tesla is undoubtedly the best-known electric-car maker in the world. It delivered 76,000 cars last year, against roughly 10 million each for Volkswagen Group, Toyota, and General Motors. But its sleek, fast, electric Model S and the associated...
Lyft has reportedly raised a new round of funding to support its on-demand ride hailing service. It’s believed that investors have put $500 million more into the company’s coffers, probably invigorated by its recent market growth and Uber’s stumbles. A Lyft spokesperson declined to comment. DON'T MISS: Lyft will have self-driving...
At the 2017 Geneva auto show, General Motors announced the sale of its entire European operations—comprising factories and the Opel and Vauxhall brands—to PSA Peugeot Citroën. German Opel and its British Vauxhall sibling have represented GM's main presence in Europe for decades, but the U.S. automaker was willing to let them go...
Lots of people like horse races, win-or-lose competitions, and rankings. They're easy to understand, and definitive. They may also lose the forest for the trees, which is what we're tempted to suggest about a new article that addresses the launch of the 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV electric car. GM's 238-mile battery-electric hatchback is rolling out...
Diesel engines will continue to appear in pickup trucks, European luxury SUVs, and at least a few mass-market crossover utility vehicles. Two of those are the Chevrolet Equinox and Mazda CX-5 crossovers that will launch for the 2018 model year. But the future of diesel in U.S. passenger cars remains far more up in the air, due to a confluence of...
Spy shots are continually fascinating, for both future buyers and auto journalists. They can reveal hints about the shapes, design aspects, and powertrains of vehicles that may not hit showrooms for as much as two years. Some recent spy shots of the 2019 Cadillac XT3 small crossover utility vehicle have a very distinctive feature that tells a lot...
With the 238-mile Chevy Bolt EV electric car now in its third month of sales and rolling out to additional states every month, the industry is focused on its sales numbers. Retail buyers have asked to what degree GM's plans to dedicate a number of the early Bolt EVs to its Maven car-sharing service might affect availability. If yesterday's...
It's common practice in the industry for automakers to base multiple different models on the same basic platform or architecture. This allows them to amortize the development costs of new platforms across a wider range of products. It also means that two seemingly dissimilar models—such as a sedan and a utility vehicle—can share...
The Chevrolet Bolt EV may very well turn out to be a game-changing electric car in more ways than one. With an EPA-rated 238-mile range and a base price of $37,495, the Bolt EV has the potential to appeal to a much broader range of customers than previous electric cars. At the same time, it's also the car General Motors is using as its primary...
Battery-electric cars are being delivered in volume today, but planned hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles from major automakers are on a more gradual timeframe. This morning, General Motors and Honda jointly announced that the two companies would establish a joint venture to produce hydrogen fuel-cell systems for future products from each carmaker...
Electric cars have the potential to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, but that does not seem to be a priority for President-elect Donald Trump. He has suggested that climate change is a hoax created by China to hurt U.S. businesses, and his statements on the campaign trail indicate policies that will boost fossil fuels. Some of Trump's...
Electric cars are virtually as old as the auto industry, but hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are not. In fact, exactly fifty years ago this month, GM showed off the first one, which it called the Electrovan. This remarkable and innovative prototype for a zero-emission vehicle used the body of an adapted GMC Handi-Van, containing the first fuel cell...
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV will be on dealership floors within several weeks, cementing its position as the first affordable 200-mile electric car. It will beat planned 200-mile electric cars from BMW, Nissan, Tesla, Volkswagen, and other makers, and that's all to the good for plug-in car advocates. But the Bolt faces numerous hurdles to success...
The 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV had a fast and unusual development process. General Motors partnered closely with Korean electronics firm LG, whose LG Chem subsidiary provided its lithium-ion battery cells. Other LG units contributed both electric and electronic components and now act as contract manufacturers for significant parts of the car's...
Over the last five years, much has been written about autonomous-car efforts from Apple and Google. Could these two massively successful Silicon Valley startups overturn the established order in the global auto industry? The answer remains to be seen, but this month brought news that both companies are restructuring their efforts. DON'T MISS: 2017...