GM and LG Team Up on Electric Vehicles

Auto maker General Motors and LG Group will be working together to design and engineer electric vehicles thanks to a new partnership that expands on LG’s earlier work for GM in lithium-ion batteries.  Previously, LG delivered batteries for the Chevrolet Volt, the Opel Ampera, and later for a demo fleet of Chevrolet Cruze electric vehicles.

According to the companies, their goal is to reduce both the cost and the time it takes to build electric cars.

LG will cover half the cost for the new EVs and will work alongside engineers from GM to collaborate on components, vehicle structures and architectures. LG will also become GM’s supplier for the components, which it’s permitted to sell to other auto makers. That means this partnership will be good for the electric vehicle industry as a whole, and not just GM.

The deal comes at a time when U.S. automakers are under pressure to raise the corporate average fuel economy (CAFE) standards, per a recent agreement. By the end of 2025, they must meet a CAFE of 54.5 mpg (23.2 km/l) – a goal that will involve improvements to internal combustion and diesel engines, for the most part. But GM says that electric vehicles are expected to play “a major role” in reaching the CAFE goal, too.

There was no timeframe given for the vehicles’ launch.