Today is the day in the future to which Marty, Doc and Jennifer travelled from 1985 in the movie Back to the Future II. Although many of the then-outrageous tech fantasies shown in the movie have been realised, such as Lexus’s hoverboard, Google Glass or Skype, we’re yet to see a proper flying car.
But the fact that GM is getting a step closer to its dream of an affordable electric vehicle with a decent range may be some consolation. Hoorah, we guess…
The American carmaker has recently announced that Korean electronics giant LG will supply most of the vital components for its upcoming Chevrolet Bolt EV.
Shown first at the Detroit motor show early this year, the all-electric hatchback is more than just a replacement for the Spark EV. The car, which GM claims will have an electric-only range of over 320km and will be priced at $37,000 (Dh135,899), is likely to be the first step in the General’s planned onslaught on Tesla, whose cars it intends to undercut by a significant margin.
The components to be provided by LG include — deep breath — a GM-designed electric-drive motor, power inverter module, battery pack, on-board charging system, both high power and low power distribution modules that regulate the flow of voltage, as well as the instrument cluster and infotainment system.
Mark Reuss, GM executive vice president of global product development, purchasing and supply chain, believes the combination of GM’s “engineering prowess” and LG’s “experience” will “transform the concept of the industry’s first long range, affordable EV into reality”.
The components will be built at LG’s engineering and manufacturing facility in Incheon, Korea, and will be assembled into the Chevrolet Bolt at GM’s plant in Orion, Michigan in late 2016.
While we’re all for the advancement of alternate energy tech, the simple fact is that electric cars don’t quite work in our climate. We say this from our drive of the Renault Twizy last summer, when despite a claimed range of 100km, the car popped its clogs in merely 30. Nearly killed features writer Dejan too, who had the misfortune of pushing it back to the office in 50-degree heat. Read our review of the quirky little electric car along with the Morgan three-wheeler and Can-Am Spyder here.
