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Connected vehicle technology will wirelessly connect vehicles to each other, and to the Internet, with the promise of a reduction in accidents and other improvements in safety records.
Addressing the Detroit Economic Club General Motors Chief Executive Mary Barra announced an all-new, all-American version of GM’s electric Volt – more powerful, with a longer range, built from parts made entirely in the automaker’s home state.
“All of the Volt’s major components – the battery cells, the battery pack, the electric drive unit, and the gas motor – will be made in Michigan,” Barra told govtech.
Barra also used the event to advertise GM’s new V2X wireless technology.
When it arrives, in the 2017 Cadillac CTS, it will wirelessly connect vehicles to each other, and to the Internet.
Barra told the crowd that 70,000 Volt hybrid owners have driven half a billion gas-free, all-electric miles, averaging under 40 miles per trip, and averaging more than 970 miles between visits to the gas station.
Drivers are “routinely” getting 100 to 200 miles per gallon, Barra said.
Another startling number: Barra told her audience that of the $5 billion GM has invested in Michigan since 2009, $1.8 billion has gone toward the company’s vehicle electrification efforts.
