GM Defense has been selected by the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) to develop a battery pack prototype for testing and analysis on Department of Defense platforms. A wholly-owned subsidiary of General Motors, GM Defense will use the GM Ultium battery platform to meet DIU’s requirement for a scalable design that can be used for tactical military vehicles.
For those who are not experts in Department of Defense (DoD), DIU is a DoD organization that accelerates the adoption of commercial technology across the U.S. military, which aligns with GM Defense’s mission of leveraging GM’s advanced technologies for global defense and government customers.
“This award is a critical enabler for non-traditional defense businesses like GM Defense to deliver commercial technologies that support our customers’ transition to a more electric, autonomous and connected future,” said president of GM Defense, Steve duMont. “Commercial battery electric technologies continue to mature. GM Defense offers a unique advantage with our ability to leverage proven commercial capabilities and the billions in GM investments in electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle technologies in order to help provide our customers with the most advanced capabilities the commercial market can offer.”
Today’s announcement represents the second EV-related GM Defense news so far this year. In July, the division announced that it will provide a Hummer EV to the U.S. Army for analysis and demonstration of the vehicle as well as Ultium battery and Ultium Drive tech. From there, GM Defense is looking to develop a light- to heavy-duty electric vehicle capable of meeting the U.S. Army’s requirements. The vehicle will need to meet the rigorous demands of both operational and garrison environments while reducing reliance on fossil fuels and mitigating emissions.
The GM Ultium architecture is a highly flexible battery platform that can be modified to work with various vehicle types and body styles (like cars, trucks, SUVs, autonomous vehicles), as well as any drive type (including FWD, RWD, AWD/4WD). It should come as no surprise, then, that the automaker is looking to leverage the technology as much as possible, including exploring military applications.
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Comments
Ok, but how about also designing and making Vee hulled vehicles for troop survivability against mines and IEDs?
I’m sure this will be a great fit for all of the non-existent battlefield charging stations!
You realize portable charging will be around. And yes you migh say why go electric….maybe less maintenance, quiet, faster, etc… NO fossil fuels are not going away no mater what they think…anytime soon but the transition can take place where it immediately works. Open mind.
Where’s the quick refuel in the midst of a battle?
Yep I can see it now, the General steps out with a white flag attached to his BB pistol and raises his hands in the recognizable Time Out, and says “Time out, we have to take a 2 hr break while we recharge our batteries”. Get real Biden!
Not sure what the application will be?
Each military EV will tow a diesel generator to recharge as needed. I’m not kidding, Indianapolis invested in EV busses for mass transit but they quickly found that they couldn’t complete their routes in the winter without recharging so portable diesel generators were used to recharge the busses, how dumb is that? I will just buy a diesel truck, problem solved.
https://www.sae.org/news/2022/01/gm-launches-hydrotec-generators
GM has in fact already used these for their EV press launches…. so….
I thought sometime ago there would be a hybrid or battery powered vehicle in my life until I heard that those with them already attempting to trade them in were being asked to pay upwards of $5,000 or more for recycling fees.
I don’t know where you get your info but here in FL the Toyota dealer I bought my Camry hybrid from has called me and said if I get dissatisfied he’ll gladly buy it back from me as he can’t get enough shipped to him to meet demand.
EV tanks, powered by a windfarm. Nice and portable
The anti EV crowd is in full force today. How about using batteries to move tank turrets instead of flammable hydraulics? The next generation of cannons will operate using electrical rail gun technology, imagine being able to remove the gun powder from shells, it would definitely save our military folks lives.
Of course thinking about the technology gm would probably make the new military hardware in China…
The Chinese would then probably use the Korean LG batteries used in the 2019 Chevy Bolts in the equipment made for the US Army……….