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A new era begins Dec. 17 for General Motors with the deliveries of its first next-generation electric vehicles, the GMC HUMMER EV Edition 1 Pickup and BrightDrop EV600 light commercial vehicle, both built on the Ultium Platform.
This dedicated EV architecture and propulsion system is the foundation for GM’s all-electric future, giving the company the capability not only to build an entire retail and commercial portfolio, but also leverage the technology to expand its business to non-automotive applications.
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With 30 all-new EVs planned globally through 2025, two-thirds of which will be available in the North America, Ultium will be the key driver of GM’s expansion and next phase of growth. “This is the first chapter for Ultium—and for GM’s transition to a zero-emissions future,” said GM President Mark Reuss. “Both commercial and retail customers will benefit from the EV experience, from exhilarating acceleration to low cost of operation, versatility and ability to customize after the sale. GM is ideally positioned to provide EVs for every customer in every segment, retail or commercial.”
The Ultium Platform will:
Enable GM to make nearly every type of vehicle—across its different brands and up and down the portfolio—by building everything from affordable, high-volume crossovers and passenger cars to full-size pickups and SUVs, performance and commercial vehicles.
Feature competitive range, performance and overall customer-friendly integration of components compared to designs that retrofit electric propulsion systems to existing internal combustion vehicle frameworks.
Greatly reduce proliferation of parts combinations used in today’s internal combustion lineups, helping enhanceEVprofitability.
Enable mobility beyond GM’s own portfolio through third-party licensing of its EV technology, co-development agreements and partnerships.
GMC HUMMER EV
The Ultium Platform also helps GM innovate in core areas like the interdependent body frame and battery structure of its all-new EVs.
The GMC HUMMER EV Pickup’s combined battery pack and body structure allows outstanding off-road proportions, strong protection of the vehicle’s battery, which doubles as a stiffening member of the body, and enough stability to enable features like removable Infinity Roof panels that wouldhavebeendifficulttoachieveon a conventional pickup.
BrightDrop EV600
In addition to enabling dynamic allnew vehicles like the GMC HUMMER EV off-road supertruck, Ultium is helping GM to grow its business in new ways.
BrightDrop, the new tech startup from GM, is on a mission to reimagine commercial delivery and logistics for an all-electric future through products like the EV600 light commercial vehicle. Ultium will allow BrightDrop to rapidly accelerate toward electrifying last-mile delivery and reduce vehicle emissions while also helping other companies meet their sustainability targets. BrightDrop is delivering its first EV600s to FedEx beginning Dec. 17, moving from concept to market introduction faster than any other GM vehicle in history.
Ultium Ship-To-Commerce
Factory ZERO in Detroit and Hamtramck, MI, will assemble multiple Ultium-based vehicles, including the fully autonomous Cruise Origin purpose-built for driverless ride hail and delivery, the GMC HUMMER EV Pickup and SUV, the Chevrolet Silverado EV and the recently announcedGMC electric Sierra Denali.
GM continues to expand and reimagine its manufacturing and development footprint, bringing together high-scale vehicle production expertise established over more than a century and passion to become a leading technology company.
More than $4 billion has been invested specifically in EV production and another nearly $5 billion has been spent on battery cell manufacturing targeting at least 140 gigawatt hours of cell-making capacity in the U.S.
GM’s next Ultium-based vehicle, the Cadillac LYRIQ, is expected to launch as scheduled in the first half of 2022 and will be assembled in Spring Hill, TN. The Chevrolet Silverado EV officially debuts in January at CES.
Source: GM
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an insurance company estimate from another database program and nothing matches.
“The reality is that we’re never going to get an exact result from three different database products,” said Gredinberg. “They all talk differently and have different logic and P-pages. They will never line up to each other.”
He said it’s the estimator’s job to understand the system they are using in order to explain and justify the estimate to the vehicle owner.
Gredinberg encourages repairers to talk to vehicle owners on the front end, use the estimating system the way it is intended, and capture all of the included and non-included items.
“At the end of the day, the goal is for the consumer to get their vehicle fixed with the least amount of friction possible,” he said.
Gredinberg strongly encourages the industry to share any database by submitting a database inquiry: https:// degweb.org/deg-database-parent/ submit-a-database-inquiry.
Pete Tagliapietra, product director at NuGen IT, an OEC Company, talked about leading-edge technologies, such as machine learning, computer vision, robotics automation and artificial intelligence (AI).
“What’s unfortunate to me is how these technologies seem to be left behind as far as collision repairers are concerned,” said Tagliapietra.
He challenged collision repairers to think outside of the box.
Tagliapietra shared an idea of using these technologies to capture images of a damaged vehicle and immediately access all of the OEM information required by a collision repairer to repair it.
In the current environment, Tagliapietra said repairers have access to individual OEM repair information through the manufacturers’ websites. However, each OEM has its own format, and repairers often don’t know what to look for and where to find it.Alternatives include accessing information through OEM 1Stop; a third-party provider, such as ALLDATA or Identifix; or via estimating systems repair lines.
He talked about the possibility of accessing OEM repair information via computer vision. In this scenario, digital images of the vehicle damage would be uploaded to a computer vision central server. Once the images are analyzed, a collision shop could have the information available through the OEM website or a third-party provider within seconds.
“The premise of the idea is to give collision repairers all of the information needed to create a complete blueprint of the automobile before the estimate is written,” explained Tagliapietra.
In addition, reporting capabilities would be available. “Over time, you would be able to look at a certain year, make and model and understand what repair procedures are typically being used to repair that vehicle.”
Tagliapietra said all of this is possible with the technology available today.
“When you look at all of the different repair information opportunities, none of them bring all of the information that you need as a collision repairer to have access to them,” he said.
By using computer vision, Tagliapietra said collision repairers would immediately know all of the necessary repair procedures to include if a pre-and post-scan is required, as well as a recalibration. They would also have access to manufacturers’ position statements before writing the estimate and repairing the vehicle.
He encourages the industry to leverage the same technology used by other industries, such as insurance.
“Dreaming big is something we need to do in this industry,” said Tagliapietra. “Otherwise, we’ll fall behind and, in some cases, fall further behind.”
Michael LoPrete, vice president of global operations at Plastfix Inc., talked about sustainability and the future impact on collision repairers. LoPrete shared a broad definition of sustainability, which he described as meeting the needs of the present without compromising future generations’ ability to meet their needs.
“I think about sustainability as a journey to a place where we are able to complete vehicle repairs while
eliminating all of our current waste streams,” said LoPrete. “I don’t think that there is a point that we’ll ever be finished.”
He shared what he referred to as the 3R’s of sustainability, in order of importance: reduce, reuse and recycle.
Examples of reduce include repairing something rather than replacing it, and conducting online training rather than incurring travel time. Reuse also refers to repair vs. replace, and LoPrete used the example of purchasing a new cell phone as soon as it is introduced, even if a person’s current device is working perfectly well. Recycling is often the first thing that comes to mind when people think of sustainability, but LoPrete said it has the smallest impact on sustainability initiatives.
He introduced the term “recoverability,” which he described as an item that has the capability of being recycled and then converted to a new product of the same type, such as glass or aluminum.
“The recoverability rate on those items is nearly 100%,” he said. With plastics, recoverability is less than 5% and includes specific products such as water and soda bottles.
The automotive aftermarket is reportedly the No. 2 generator of polypropylene waste globally and recoverability is close to 0%.
LoPrete said green consumers are driving the increased awareness of sustainability, and Greta Thunberg is a leading spokesperson for Generation Z.
“Generation Z looks at the world through the lens of the sustainability triple bottom line, which includes economy, environment and society,” he said. “Every decision they make tends to have filters that pass through all three of those things.”
Many say Generation Z is demanding industries be more responsible and accountable for their actions.
“The ones who do it in a meaningful way are positioning their businesses well to move forward,” he said. “The ones who delay taking action will have to catch up eventually because that segment of the population is only going to become a larger and larger piece of the audience out there.”
Moving forward, LoPrete encourages industry stakeholders to work together and make sustainability part of their strategic thinking to reduce the amount of waste being generated while still producing safe repairs.
“While we can do things individually that will make a difference, the reality is that the greatest impact will come if we work together,” he said. “Sustainability needs to be a topic of discussion; it can’t be left undiscussed.”
He challenged the industry to do the following: • Make sustainability an agenda item during meetings • Appoint a subject matter expert within your organization • Track and record your current waste and look at trends • Identify pathways for improvement • Involve other stakeholders in your conversations • Share initiatives broadly across your organization
“If we begin thinking about sustainability from this perspective, we can make progress that will shape legislative actions, rather than being subjected to requirements from outside of our industry,” said LoPrete. “There will be winners and losers across the stakeholder chain. The green consumer will make sure that happens. They will support the ones that make the right choices.”
Learn more about the SCRS Repairer Driven Education series: https://rde.scrs.com.
Pete Tagliapietra, product director at NuGen IT, an OEC Company� Michael LoPrete, vice president of global operations at Plastfix Inc�
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