Silverado EV Driveline Uses 45% Fewer Part Numbers Than ICE Silverado

[administrator]

According to Executive Vice President of Global Product Development Doug Parks, the Chevy Silverado EV driveline uses on average 45 percent fewer part numbers than the driveline of an equivalent ICE-powered Chevy Silverado.




During the recent GM Investor Day event held November 17th, Parks addressed how GM’s Ultium battery technology and Ultium drive motor technology help to reduce complexity and costs for the automaker. According to Parks, GM electric vehicles use a fraction of the parts required for its ICE portfolio. “Even when we have multiple Ultium-based variants in North America by mid-decade, this reduced complexity will allow us to use a quarter of the battery pack and drive unit combinations compared to ICE.” With regard to the Chevy Silverado EV specifically, the new all-electric pickup uses 45 percent fewer driveline part numbers than an equivalent ICE-powered Chevy Silverado.

“Can you imagine 45 percent less parts to design, validate, tool, build? This complexity reduction is important as it reduces our costs significantly,” Parks told investors during a presentation.

 

[Chevy_maybe]

GM bragging about 45% fewer parts and significant cost reductions for the manufacturer falls flat for the consumer when the announced price of the Silverado EV 3WT is $72,905 and the first edition RST is $105,000, before additional dealer markup and other fees.

 

[Cmiller81]

they forgot to mention that it took 45% more engineers to bring the EV to life so they had to mark up the price

 

[LLninja]

Well, duh? No pistons, piston rods, spark plugs, spark plug wires, piston rings, injectors, coils, crankshaft, carburetor, exhaust manifold, exhaust pipe, catalytic converter, fuel pump, oil pump, lots of gears and stuff for the automatic transmission, etc. I guess there is still a radiator, water pump, coolant, brake pump & reservoir, steering components.

 

[LLninja]

they forgot to mention that it took 45% more engineers to bring the EV to life so they had to mark up the price

I think the high price comes primarily because of the high price of batteries in order to get 400 miles of range, plus outfitting a new factory to do many new things. The real question is whether they can get to enough economies of scale with Ultium and their electric motors in order to bring the prices down. GM will definitely make money on these trucks, but will they be able to compete with the rest of the lineup like the Blazer and Equinox EVs? I worry the Chinese will start selling 4 digit EVs and demolish the automotive industry as we know it. I see a tsunami coming, even the Japanese automotive giants might fall. Toyota has not been able to morph their Prius hybrid dominance into anything meaningful with a BEV. Mitsubishi and Mazda appear to have just stopped vehicle development like deer in headlights. Honda appears to have fallen behind even Nissan - note the Acura EV SUV is really a Lyriq with a body and interior makeover.

I hope GM survives and thrives but this automotive disruption is going to be even bigger than the disappearance of Saab, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Saturn, Plymouth, Mercury. One of the big 3 and several of the Japanese companies will fall. It seems like the Korean car companies have their EV roadmap pumping out vehicles faster than Honda, Toyota, and Nissan.

 

[Charjd]

LLninja, you're comment made me stop and think. But since the most expensive part of an electric car is the battery, the Chinese would have to make batteries cheaper. That doesn't seem likely. We know that they are good at copying and stealing, not developing new tech. As far as the initial prices go, it makes sense for all auto makers to take advantage of the "early adopter" phenomenon and lead with the most expensive models, which have the biggest profit margins. Auto makers have sunk billions into r&d and they need to start recouping that as fast as possible. The introductory cost of EV's shouldn't be surprising. Early adopters always pay and that is what we are. Of course nobody on this forum has bought one yet.

 

[LLninja]

LLninja, you're comment made me stop and think. But since the most expensive part of an electric car is the battery, the Chinese would have to make batteries cheaper. That doesn't seem likely. We know that they are good at copying and stealing, not developing new tech. As far as the initial prices go, it makes sense for all auto makers to take advantage of the "early adopter" phenomenon and lead with the most expensive models, which have the biggest profit margins. Auto makers have sunk billions into r&d and they need to start recouping that as fast as possible. The introductory cost of EV's shouldn't be surprising. Early adopters always pay and that is what we are. Of course nobody on this forum has bought one yet.

Read up on the lithium battery industry. China leads this by far. The government can set prices to whatever they want, even take a loss to win the “war”. There is an onslaught happening in the solar generator area where companies like Jackery, Bluetti, and EcoFlow (all with major R&D work done in China despite headquarters in the US). Early companies like GoalZero who started with Nickel Cadmium are unable to catch up without these partnerships in China.

 

[Charjd]

The question is, how long will China subsidize an industry that is losing money. Also, does it have all the rare materials needed to make batteries in China, or does it have to import some. If it imports it, it pays what everybody else pays, which levels the costs.

 

[LLninja]

The question is, how long will China subsidize an industry that is losing money. Also, does it have all the rare materials needed to make batteries in China, or does it have to import some. If it imports it, it pays what everybody else pays, which levels the costs.

Read up on this:

https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/how-china-is-transforming-the-global-lithium-industry

Don’t trust articles written by other “companies” sponsored by the Chinese government. The key stat out of this: 90% of LFP production is in China