Why GM CEO says self-driving cars should be electric

GM reportedly had planned to launch a new electric vehicle at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January 2020, but failed to meet the deadline due to a strike by the United Auto Workers (UAW).

GM Chief Executive Mary Barra said the delay did not stop GM from electrifying its vehicles, and she said “all self-driving vehicles should be fully electric,” rather than hybrids or plug-in hybrids.

GM spokesman Tony Cervone said, "We were planning to go to CES, but frankly, we were not able to complete the models we were supposed to because of the UAW strike, so we were unable to attend." He also said that GM would not cross the cordon to move concept cars out of the studio or take model cars out of the factory, but would make full preparations for the mass production of new cars. "So we can only do the best we can with the existing infrastructure." However, due to time constraints, the new models were not completed as scheduled, so GM does not plan to attend the Consumer Electronics Show.

"We want to do better because we have a very powerful story to tell," Barra said in an interview. Barra would not reveal specific details about the car, saying only that she was focusing on two areas GM is committed to in the future: electric vehicles and autonomous driving technology. "You'll see us tell this story in different forms."

GM and its self-driving unit Cruise reportedly plan to unveil their latest self-driving cars at the Consumer Electronics Show, but it is understood that Cruise plans to unveil its new self-driving taxis at an event in late January. Since GM acquired Cruise in 2016, they have been developing driverless taxis and hope to have them on the road by the end of 2019.

So, presumably, the electric vehicle planned for CES 2020 is an electric Cadillac crossover with Super Cruise semi-autonomous highway driving capabilities.

GM’s collaboration with Cruise on fully autonomous vehicles began with a version of the Chevrolet Bolt with lidar sensors mounted on its roof and has evolved into a custom, production-ready fully autonomous vehicle called the Cruise AV, which is produced at the Orion Assembly Plant in Michigan.

Cruise AV does not have a traditional car steering wheel and accelerator and brake pedals, so all seats in this car are designed for passengers, and it uses artificial intelligence and related technologies to achieve the purpose of autonomous driving. The main test site of this car is in San Francisco, and additional tests have been conducted in Phoenix and Michigan. It is also seeking permission to conduct tests in New York. It is expected that Cruise will launch the latest version of Cruise AV at a media event in San Francisco in late January.

As testing continued, the GM team realized that it was unrealistic to have a functioning fleet of self-driving taxis by the end of 2019.

Barra said, "I think everyone has realized that autonomous driving is one of the technological challenges of our generation." GM's approach is to put safety first while working hard to understand customer needs. She said: "This is not only a technology race, but also a trust race. We are doing a lot of work in San Francisco. We want to make sure consumers understand autonomous vehicles, understand the development, understand the technology, and we think this is very important." GM's idea is to prove that self-driving cars are safer than human drivers.

As for the new timeline, Barra said that considering the importance of autonomous driving technology in helping to improve the environment while reducing traffic accidents and congestion, "We have some ideas, but we will not propose a new date. Compared with perfecting autonomous driving technology, time is not that important. As long as we can gain customer trust and use when launching this technology, it is enough."

Barra believes that GM's more than 100 years of honed car manufacturing capabilities, combined with Cruise's achievements in autonomous driving technology, all come together to seamlessly integrate, an advantage that competitors do not have.

"With that advantage, we have deep integration, we can work together smoothly, and then we have the ability to manufacture cars at scale, which puts us in a unique position," Barra said. To ensure safety, GM replaced 40% of the parts in the car and installed appropriate backup systems in the car so that the driver no longer needs to intervene in various possible situations.

"I'm very pleased with the progress we've made on autonomous driving, and we're going to continue to make progress," Barra said.

She also said, "We believe all self-driving cars should be electric." This is a larger commitment to electric vehicles. GM already makes hybrids and plug-in hybrids, but Barra wants to avoid the inherent costs of having two powertrains in one vehicle.

GM is also concerned about global warming and wants to adopt electric vehicles as part of the solution as soon as possible. Barra said, "Global warming is not a two-year problem, it's a ten-year problem, it's a generational problem. So the sooner you get to zero emissions, the better, and electric vehicles get you there faster. So why put a lot of money and engineering into an area that doesn't get you to the end game when we know how to end the game?"

Barra may not like plug-in hybrids, but she acknowledges that they are necessary in the transition to electric vehicles, especially in China, to meet emissions regulations. Plug-in hybrids are not only a solution, but also a challenge - consumers don't want to pay for additional hybrid technology. Earlier this year, GM decided to stop producing the Chevrolet Volt plug-in hybrid due to falling demand in the United States. Instead, GM is developing the next-generation pure electric Chevrolet Bolt.

“If you’re a customer-centric company and you’re a company that believes in global warming, why wouldn’t you be moving to electric vehicles as quickly as possible?” Barra asked.

GM has announced its pure electrification strategy, and plans to launch more than 20 pure electric models worldwide by 2023. As GM's largest market, China will be the most important part of GM's pure electric future. GM plans to launch 10 new energy vehicles in the Chinese market by 2020; by 2023, the total number of GM's new energy models in China will double to 20 models. By 2025, nearly all models of the three global brands Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac in China will be electrified.

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) announced that the development of motor technology has entered a new era, which will have a profound impact on the performance of electric vehicles. The head of technology trends at the Advanced Propulsion Center (APC) in the UK believes that in the process of improving the development of electric vehicles, people talk most about batteries, and motors have not received much attention. This situation will change in the future.

Most electric vehicle motors follow the same basic principle, with tightly wound coils interacting with powerful magnets to spin the motor, but the current limitation is how to effectively dissipate heat while increasing the speed and reducing the size.

The solution of British car manufacturer Equipmake is to rearrange the magnets of the motor so that they are placed like the spokes of a wheel. This not only increases torque (the power that causes rotation), but also allows cooling water to flow directly over the magnets to improve heat dissipation. The company also uses additive manufacturing technology, namely 3D printing technology, to improve heat dissipation and reduce costs. Other manufacturers are also considering making the transition through technologies such as hub motors. Car manufacturer Protean Electric believes that hub motors can improve handling performance, reduce weight and optimize the weight distribution of the vehicle, which means longer driving range or less power consumption for the same driving range, while also greatly improving in terms of reducing noise and increasing space.

APC is a research and development organization jointly established by the British government and the automotive industry. It has now developed a roadmap for the future development of electric motors: it is expected that by 2025, the cost per kilowatt will be reduced by nearly half, while the power density will be three times that of the past. For motors that produce the same power, their weight and packaging size will be only one-third of what they are now, and the cost will also be reduced.