In an business obsessive about making every part big (no less than right here within the U.S.), it’s possible you’ll not’ve anticipated GM to indicate curiosity in an electrical child pickup, however right here we’re.
GM is contemplating a pickup design that’s “smaller than the Ford Maverick and the Hyundai Santa Cruz,” with a “low roofline” and a 4 to 4.5-foot mattress, in line with Automotive Information. The publication reportedly noticed a prototype of the EV at a GM workshop, and mentioned it might function a sub-$30,000 price ticket (that’d be fairly dang low-cost in comparison with most new EVs as of late). Judging by this description, the small-ish truck might function a non secular successor to the Chevrolet S-10 EV, which briefly made historical past as one of many first electrical pickups within the late 90s.
The design is unquestionably not ultimate, GM design director Michael Pevovar reportedly indicated to Automotive Information, saying the automaker is “creating these to get a response after which to attempt to modify it or transfer on.”
There’s no signal that American companies will ever embrace ultra-teeny Kei automobile-sized pickups, however I’m nonetheless happy to see that GM is contemplating making one thing that’s not honkingly big. My dream is for U.S. automakers to move additional on this route, however alas, the market doesn’t appear to share my urge for food for too-small vehicles.
The child-pickup report preceded a busy day for GM. Although the automaker claims it would rid its lineup of fuel guzzlers by 2035, on Friday it introduced a plan to pump $579 million into its Flint facility to crank out one other era of its V-8 engines. GM’s manufacturing boss Gerald Johnson defined the considerably contradictory transfer in a press release to reporters.
“Our dedication is to an all-EV future, little question about it,” he mentioned, with a serious caveat: “There are a variety of inside combustion engine clients that we don’t wish to lose.”
GM mentioned it plans to speculate one other $339 million into three different services, which is able to produce EV elements. We additionally discovered that GM has shelved a plan to accomplice with LG on a fourth U.S. battery plant. One such plant is already lively in Ohio, whereas two others are nonetheless within the works in Tennessee and Michigan.
