GM to be first major U.S. automaker to manufacture electric motors

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Currently GM buys electric motors from suppliers, but as the company will be using more and more electric motors in the near future(both electric vehicles and hybrids) it makes absolutely sense to start designing and manufacturing electric motors in house.

By doing so, GM will lower costs and improve performance, quality, reliability and manufacturability of electric motors by controlling design, materials selection and production processes.

The first GM-designed and built electric motors are scheduled to debut in 2013 in next-generation, rear-wheel-drive Two-mode Hybrid technology.

Electric vehicles are powered solely by electric motors, while hybrid vehicles also use an internal combustion engine for propulsion. GM’s next-generation rear-wheel-drive Two-mode Hybrid system will use two unique 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.

“In the future, electric motors might become as important to GM as engines are now,” said Tom Stephens, GM vice chairman, Global Product Operations. “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 has been building this in-house capability for years, expanding electric motor research and development, design and validation capabilities at facilities in Michigan, Indiana and California. GM also has developed state-of-the-art math-based design and computing capacity for electric motors. The electric motors will be manufactured in the U.S. at a GM facility.

Similar to today’s internal combustion engines, automotive electric motors require an unparalleled combination of exceptionally low noise, vibration and harshness (NVH); high reliability and affordability that is achievable only by understanding the entire value chain. In addition to growing in-house capabilities, GM will continue to purchase and co-design electric motors with suppliers.

“This is a strategy we use today with batteries,” Stephens said. “We are partnering with suppliers to create innovations faster than ever before. Our goal is simply to establish GM as a leader in automotive electric motors. We see that leadership as a key enabler - both to our long-term success and to our nation’s move away from oil dependence.”