GM Partners with LG to Build Chevrolet Bolt EV

A spokesperson from GM declined to confirm, deny or comment on the possibility of the Bolt EV’s battery cells being produced at LG Chem’s Holland location during a plant tour and question and answer session with journalists at its facility today.

The partnership with LG will assist GM in infotainment, battery systems and component development, while also utilizing its in-house capabilities in electric motor design, battery control, system validation and vehicle body/system integration.

While the Volt is an extended range plug-in backed up by a small gasoline engine, the Bolt will be a pure electric vehicle with a range of at least 200 miles. The Bolt will fit that description when it arrives in late 2016, Reuss said, the “direct result of an entirely different kind of OEM-supplier relationship” struck between GM and LG.

That’s according to industry analysts who cite a recent strategic partnership between LG Electronics Inc. and General Motors (GM) to produce several components for the Bolt as evidence of a new product line at Holland-based LG Chem Michigan Inc. GM’s apparent first-a commercial electric with a battery at a $145-per-kilowatt-hour cost at the cell level-is an impressive one. “We’re also looking at ways we can leverage LG’s expertise in consumer electronics, particularly in display systems, to raise the bar with our interiors”. LG, for its part, added that helping GM with the Chevy Bolt is “indicative of exactly the type of contributions that traditional tech companies can make in the automotive space”. The Chevrolet Bolt EV will reportedly cost around $30,000 which is around the same price of Tesla’s upcoming economic vehicle.

To make the auto a reality General Motors is teaming up with LG Corporation. Now this isn’t the first time LG has worked with GM, they are part of OnStar, they supplied GM with telematics in 2007 for that system. To be specific, they will be working with LG Electronics and LG Chem, who did work close with GM to develop the Bolt EV concept.

The company suggests it typically waits until later in the development process to bring in supplier partners, however involving LG early in the Bolt project was viewed as a way to keep Chevrolet “disruptive” and establish a leadership position in the industry’s electrification transition.