General Motors Set To Deploy World-Wide Fleet of All-Electric Vehicles

Chevrolet China Electric Sail









GM announces their intention to launch a fleet of BEV's (Battery Electric Vehicles) around the globe in order to...? We do not know why they are doing this actually. GM should know more than any other manufacturer as pertains to electric cars, considering their EV1 and Electric S10 from the 90's. Yet here we are 20 years later and they are still "testing the water" with this global fleet. The time for testing is over. The time for alternate energy vehicles is here and now.

From GM-Volt.com:

The Chevy Volt is a brilliant solution that allows mainstream drivers the opportunity to execute the majority of their driving using electricity as fuel.

Though GM believes in Voltec technology and has put its best foot forward with the Volt, it is still keeping the other foot in the pure EV game.

According to Karl Stracke who is GM’s Vice President of Global Vehicle Engineering, the company will be establishing a global EV test fleet. The fleet will deployed in several regions around the world, and will consist of several different cars. A working prototype of an electric Chinese Chevrolet Sail already exists (shown above).

“These demo fleets will increase GM’s competitiveness in vehicle electrification by providing GM with real-world data on driving patterns, battery charging, market needs and customer acceptance while sharing costs and resources with supplier and government partners,” said GM in a statement.

I reached out to GM spokesperson Brain Corbett for further details.

“We’re launching multiple BEV demo fleets in various regions around the world using different types of vehicles,” said Corbett. “We’ll have more details going forward.”

Corbett acknowledged that the EV fleet will include many partners.

“We have many partners with these BEV demo fleets and can’t disclose everything at this time,” he said. “The partners do not include another automaker. In fact, the BEV demo fleet strategy mirrors our battery strategy — we’re partnering with suppliers, universities and government agencies. This allows us to share costs, resources and learnings.”

He explained the purpose of the demonstration fleet is to further the development and progress of core competencies and components.

“The primary goal of the BEV demo is to continue to develop our core vehicle electrification components: batteries, power controls and motors,” he said. “These components are needed for hybrids, plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles such as the Volt.”

“The BEV demo fleets will also provide real world data of customer acceptance of BEVs and use patterns and charging operations,” he added.

Unfortunately it appears the US won’t be included in the demonstration program

“Going forward, we will disclose the specific vehicles, number of vehicles and location of these demonstration fleets, although I will tell the US is not included,” he said.