GM has filed to trademark the Evotex name, GM Authority has learned. The new trademark will be used in conjunction with synthetic seat upholstery for the latest Chevy vehicles.
Filed on January 10th, 2023 with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), the application is assigned serial number 97748264. The application carries a Goods and Services description of “Upholstery for vehicles; fitted seat covers for vehicles; vehicle seats.”
The new Evotex trademark will be used conjunction with a synthetic leather-like material that will be introduced by new Chevy vehicles. The first vehicles to offer this material will be the all-new 2023 Chevy Colorado and all-new 2024 Chevy Trax. Customers will be offered Evotex-covered seats in the 2023 Chevy Colorado WT, Trail Boss, and LT trim levels, which will replace the standard cloth upholstery. Cloth / Evotex seats will also be equipped as standard in 2023 Chevy Colorado Z71 and ZR2 trim levels, with perforated leather upholstery offered as an optional upgrade.
Meanwhile, the 2024 Chevy Trax will offer full Evotex-covered seats in conjunction with the 2RS and Activ trim levels, while the 2024 Chevy Trax LT will get Cloth / Evotex seats.
GM’s new Evotex material is likely very similar to Toyota’s Softex material and Subaru’s StarTex upholstery. Compared to leather upholstery, these materials are synthetic and designed to be not only pleasing to the touch, but also wear-resistant, stain- and spill-resistant, and easy to clean. Additionally, the synthetic materials are lighter than leather, and usually result in lower carbon emissions in production.
Notably, GM has also filed to trademark the Coretec name, per previous GM Authority coverage. Originally filed last September, the Coretec trademark will also be used for “Upholstery for vehicles; fitted seat covers for vehicles; vehicle seats,” and is assigned serial number 97586012 with the USPTO. It’s likely that Coretec and Evotex are in fact the same material. To note, the GMC Canyon offers Coretec-covered seats.
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Comments
New and improved vinyl doesn’t sound as appealing.
They are literally throwing away cow leather now because they have slowed usage in things like car upholstery, due to alternatives perceived to be more environmentally friendly. Leather is a natural byproduct of the beef industry, but is now being wasted. Good job.
Looks like I’ll be going aftermarket if I go to buy a GM product. To add to that I see a $62,000 truck on the lot with cloth seats. WTH? Seriously $62,000 without leather?
You clearly haven’t bought a nice car lately. Pay $65,000 for a BMW 540i. What’s it come with? Not a single piece of leather, just Sensatec synthetic. Leather is an extra $1500-2500, and that’s seating surfaces only, everything else is synthetic. If you don’t want synthetic, you go get a 7 series ($93k) and pay an extra $7300 for the full leather option.
Synthetic leather upholstery creates sweating and reduction of air circulation to the skin. We are humans versus Bots.
Synthetic leather is a lesser cost consideration substitute by the automakers. Remember polyester suits? Now Bill Gates is promoting synthetic meats. I like genuine mashed potatoes and gravy versus instant mashed potatoes. I like leather shoes versus synthetic shoe material.
All good points, but they beg to be put into a rhyme.(. !)
Instant mash potatoes are 100 percent potato just freeze dried. This fake leather from what I have read you cannot tell the difference its that good some say its softer and cooler than leather. I do agree if they are just waiting the cow hide that’s just dumb.
Leather does not breathe well to begin with. Add the dye process and the thin vinyl protective layer that leather car seats have, and they don’t breathe at all! So, you are not losing any of that by going with a synthetic fabric.
The only breathable leather is suede. Some manufacturers use suede seat inserts. The care and maintenance for suede seats is much higher than for leather.
Some of you are clueless to how these new seat materials work. First, the leather from cows can have other uses, plenty of shoes, jackets and hand bags to be made along with furniture, it isn’t being wasted. Shoot, those costs if there is a surplus might make some of those things cheaper since there is an excess supply if that is the case.
Unless I am in high end luxury car give me a synthetic leather any day. The stuff in Toyota’s (soft tex) is fantastic. Insanely durable (can even use a magic eraser on it), very soft for the trim level and if it saves weight and helps in other ways by all means yes. Leather requires upkeep, wears down and in lower and mid level vehicles isn’t very soft to the touch or high quality. Personally, I much prefer cloth, but a synthetic leather would be my next choice over leather. Actually a cloth insert with a synthetic leather outside would be number two followed by synthetic leather and finally real leather. I bet most people if given a comparison side by side couldn’t pick the real one, this isn’t the 70’s…
It doesn’t sweat anymore than regular leather. It is also less susceptible to hot and cold, it still does get hot and cold just less impacted than leather.
Not sure what everyone is complaining about, just uninformed people or those that have this stigma about not being “leather”.
Commonsense: Thanks for your argument. But to me this faux leather is like baloney compared to real leather, prime rib. I’d rather eat prime rib. Yes, real leather like anything good requires maintenance. You have to restore the glycerine content in real leather with saddle soap. Maintenance is key just like brushing your teeth one or two times daily. Wouldn’t you rather have your natural God given teeth versus implants or dentures? Natural is best versus all this faux stuff. Again, it’s all about cost accounting on automotive materials.
Bring back genuine leather automotive seats.
FYI – due to the protective coating on leather car seats, they actually will NOT absorb leather conditioners. The only thing you can do is clean them properly on a regular basis. Once the protective layer is worth through, then you can start conditioning. That takes on average two years. Newer coatings are more durable than they used to be.
So for all those going on and on about how a new car with new leather seats is such a great thing – you are actually sitting on vinyl for the first 2 years. Now you know!
I don’t care what anyone says, fake leather doesn’t breathe. Perforations help, but the combination of real leather with perforations is better than vinyl with perforations. This started about 15 years ago with German automakers – especially VW, putting “leatherette” in their cars instead of cloth or leather. I would much rather have a soft, breathable cloth in low to mid grade trims and genuine leather in upper trims (like in the 1990s and early 2000s).
Jeff: Amen to your comment.
Real leather doesn’t breathe, either, but cloth does. Leather is impermeable to air.
Leather does breathe, but VERY little. Regardless though, new leather seats have a protective layer of vinyl over them anyway, and that layer will not breathe at all.
I don’t think most people realize the amount and types of toxic chemicals that are needed in the production of commercially used leather. If the leather is made in countries other than the US and other similar countries, those chemicals are usually drained right back into the local rivers and streams without any filtration. Knowing this, I am quite happy with a less toxic alternative that most people without being told would have no clue that their leather seats never were.
Reason of leather not being there as it used to be:
1. Environmental
2. Tanning process usually done today in countries with poor or no regulations since Sulphur is the #1 element used for tanning
3. Durability and warranty
4. Cost – as some of you say: you want real leather, you pay the price.
Now for all the data and opinions, suede is the best above all. Suede trim exclusive to very specific vehicles a.k.a true sports cars or high end exotics that use suede not only in seats, but in transmission knobs, dashboards and door trim and mainly in the steering wheel. All race cars use suede wrapped steering wheels to insure perfect almost sticky adherence to the gloves; same reason of the seat trim: no slipping to the front of the seat as drivers need their butt stick to the seat.
The leather cannot offer any of these properties. Have you seen a Lamborghini or a 911 GT3RS? All suede
For me, the seat trim material should be a choice, regardless of the trim level. You want a base car or SUV with nothing but leather, order it; on the same token if you want a Premier, Denali, XLE Toyota, Touring or Elite Honda and all the other brands high end trim, but with premium cloth seats (damn, because you live in Phoenix or you live in Quebec), go and order yours with it.