The Philippine government plans to double its power generation capacity by 2030 and increase its emission reduction target to 75%; Vietnam Zhongnan Group sells its 49% stake in a photovoltaic power station; Intel Malaysia factory uses solar energy to power six buildings.

In 1939, General Motors used a modern super highway model to start its vision for the future travel world. After more than 80 years of development, in today's automobile market, under the background of the popularity of electrification and intelligence, no car company is willing to lose on the "starting line", in particular for General Motors.

In August last year, after General Motors released new achievements in the fields of electrification, intelligent networking, and autonomous driving, as well as its future strategic layout in China, SAIC GM also announced its leading technology and strategic layout in the fields of electrification and intelligent networking at the "2021 Technology Experience Day" event held on April 8.  According to "E Chehui" learned at the event site, in order to comply with the development trend of new technologies, SAIC GM will increase investment, and it is estimated that the planned investment will exceed 50 billion yuan by 2025.

Electrification process, Ultium platform "pave the way"

At this year's North American CES show, General Motors put forward the goal of "let everyone have an electric car." In order to achieve this goal, the Ultium platform, known as the cornerstone of comprehensive electrification, has now integrated GM's 26 years of electrification experience and forward-looking technological advantages, and will also bring flexible, intelligent and safe electrification solutions to the Chinese market in the future. .

At present, SAIC GM has made a layout in the spectrum of new energy technologies such as hybrid, plug-in hybrid and pure electric, as well as mainstream body products such as cars, SUVs, and MPVs. At the same time, SAIC GM and Pan Asia Automotive Technology Center also participated in the simultaneous design and development of the Ultium platform's underlying architecture, and relying on a highly localized business chain system to achieve localized procurement of nearly 100% of parts and components.

It is understood that the Ultium platform has three major advantages: flexibility, intelligence and security. First of all, the Ultium platform uses replaceable and upgradeable battery modules, as well as a flexible arrangement of battery cell solutions, which can easily support the upgrade of functions and the optimization of battery cell formulations. In addition, through the modular design of batteries and electric drives, the Ultium platform will meet the needs of consumers in different market segments with diversified drive forms.

Secondly, the Ultium platform is the industry's first electric platform that uses a wireless battery management system (wBMS). The development space and technical flexibility have been greatly improved. Together with GM's new generation of VIP intelligent electronic architecture, it will support more refined system management and iterative upgrade of functions.

Finally, in terms of safety, the battery development and testing of the Ultium platform strictly follow GM's global new energy vehicle standards, and exceed the requirements of the national standard. At the same time, the Ultium platform can meet the five-star safety design standards for electric vehicles with voltage, energy, physical protection, and load-side insulation of the power system, and supports the full life cycle fast charging function of the battery, and the battery capacity is almost unaffected.

At present, SAIC-GM is rapidly promoting the landing of a new generation of electrified products. The Cadillac intelligent pure electric concept car LYRIQ based on the Ultium platform will be unveiled at the 2021 Shanghai Auto Show in the near future. Pre-sales of its mass-produced models will begin within this year and will be launched in China in the first half of next year.

According to the plan, SAIC-GM will launch more than 10 domestic pure electric models based on the Ultium platform by 2025, covering the three major brands of Buick, Chevrolet and Cadillac.

Increasing the Internet of Vehicles to create a "second engine"

In SAIC GM's view, the era of "software-defined cars" has arrived. Therefore, create a multi-mode interactive smart cockpit. It has also become the direction of SAIC-GM's development in the Internet of Vehicles. With the blessing of GM's new generation of VIP intelligent electronic architecture, it has opened up the three parties of "cloud, tube, and end", while also providing strong support for software-defined automobiles and automobile intelligence.

In addition, SAIC-GM is accelerating the application of smart cockpit systems. The VCS virtual cockpit system developed based on a new generation of VIP intelligent electronic architecture integrates high-performance car-level SoC, 33-inch ring-type super retina screen, dual-depth laser AR-HUD, a new generation of intelligent voice assistants and other high-specification hardware and technology. In the future, the system will also further cover various brand models of SAIC-GM.

In terms of smart driving, based on a new generation of VIP smart electronic architecture, the Super Cruise super smart driving system has been installed on Cadillac brand domestic models. This year, the enhanced Super Cruise super intelligent driving system will also debut on Cadillac models.

According to the plan, in the next five years, the Super Cruise super intelligent driving system will cover most of the Cadillac brand models, and will gradually be applied to future new models of the Buick and Chevrolet brands. At the same time, continuing the successful experience of the large-scale OTA upgrade that was opened last year for the first time, SAIC-GM will continue to implement large-scale OTA remote upgrades this year to improve vehicle linkage functions and service experience, and make vehicles frequently updated.

Summary:

In the above plan, through the layout of electrification and intelligence, SAIC GM's confidence and determination for future development have been demonstrated. At present, China, as GM's largest market and global innovation center, is the key to realizing its overall electrification vision. As SAIC-GM General Manager Wang Yongqing said: “SAIC-GM will use the “double engine” drive to quickly transform the cutting-edge technology and innovative services of electrification and intelligent networking into safe, intelligent, and connected vehicles experience within reach of users, bringing a better smart travel life."