In its effort to build the next-generation Chevrolet Bolt electric vehicle, which is promised to travel over 200 miles on a single electric charge, General Motors has decided to team up with LG Corp.
The Detroit automaker announced on Tuesday, Oct. 20, the South Korean electronics company will provide closely all of the powertrain parts as well as other components for its upcoming 2017 Chevrolet Bolt EV during a media briefing at GM's Global Battery Systems Lab in Warren Tech Center campus.
GM is entrusting the car's battery systems, infotainment as well as other parts to LG's expertise.
This electric car, slated to go into production next year, will be sold across the Unites States and in a few of the company's global markets.
"Chevrolet needs to be disruptive in order to maintain our leadership position in electrification," Mark Reuss, GM's executive vice president of Global Product Development, Purchasing and Supply Chain, says. "By taking the best of our in-house engineering prowess established with the Chevrolet Volt and Spark EV, and combining the experience of the LG Group, we're able to transform the concept of the industry's first long range, affordable EV into reality."
The Bolt, which is intended to rival strong competitors, including the Nissan Leaf, BMW AG's i3 and Tesla Motor's future Model 3, will carry a hefty price of $35,000.
LG was reported to fork out over $250 million in an engineering and manufacturing facility in Incheon to form a slew of the car's systems and components.
In 2007, the South Korean tech giant also partnered with GM in building the OnStar telematics system. LG Electronics provided the vehicle communications module for OnStar, while LG Chem, another LG company, was picked to be the sole supplier of battery cells for the plug-in hybrid, Chevrolet Volt, which was unveiled in 2010.
In the meantime, Reuss claimed earlier this month the Bolt EV will tout a $145 cost for every kilowatt hour of electric vehicle batteries. He added it will eventually fall to around $100 in the succeeding years. Early costs of EV batteries were over $200 for every kilowatt hour, he said.
