GM to move production of Volt drive unit to US
Associated Press
DETROIT
General Motors is moving production of the Chevrolet Volt’s electric drive unit from Mexico to a Detroit-area factory as it updates the slow-selling car to increase its electric range and make it perform better.
The Volt can go about 38 miles on battery power before a small gasoline generator kicks in. In the revamped version, coming in the second half of next year, the battery will store more energy yet be smaller, allowing the car to go farther on battery power, CEO Mary Barra said in a speech delivered at the Detroit Economic Club on Tuesday.
Moving the electric drive from Ramos Arzipe, Mexico, to the Warren, Mich., transmission plant means that all of the Volt’s main components — the electric drive unit, battery pack and gasoline generator — will be made in the U.S. starting next year. An electric drive unit powers the Volt’s wheels.
GM won’t hire any new workers in Warren to make the drive system.
Barra also announced that GM will invest an additional $300 million in southeast Michigan factories before the end of this year, but she gave no details.
She also did not indicate how far the second-generation Volt will be able to go on battery power alone but said it will be a “significant leap forward” in technology from the current version.
The new car, she said, will accelerate faster than the old one and have a more-efficient gas generator than the current 1.4-liter, four-cylinder engine. GM announced last year that it would build a new 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine for the Volt at a factory in Flint, Mich.