GM begins manufacturing Spark EV electric motor in Baltimore
16 April 2013
General Motors has begun manufacturing the electric motor for the Spark EV at its Baltimore Operations plant in White Marsh, Md. (Earlier post.)
The heart of the Spark EV’s propulsion system is the GM-designed, oil-cooled, permanent magnet motor. Putting more than half a million road miles on development versions of the Spark EV enabled engineers to optimize the performance of the motor by using a specifically designed bar-wound copper stator and unique rotor configuration.
The Spark EV electric motor will produce 130 hp (100 kW) and 400 lb-ft of torque to deliver acceleration of less than 8 seconds from 0 to 60 mph. The Spark EV will be sold in California and Oregon this summer and sales will expand to Canada, Europe and South Korea later.
Electric motor development and manufacturing is a critical area of expertise GM has mastered as we grow our portfolio of electric vehicles to address the needs of our global customers.
—Larry Nitz, GM executive director of Vehicle Electrification Engineering
After refining its expertise in electric motors at a pilot facility in Wixom, Mich., production of electric motors began at White Marsh.
Please apply the EV budget to the EV instead of EV/CARB crushing lawyers and bribes this time.
".. 400 lb-ft of torque" is a terrible thing to waste..
Posted by: kelly | 16 April 2013 at 12:44 PM
Compact layout using the Remy motor. AMP electric SUVs use two of these motors in the back of a Mercedes ML SUV, no differential.
http://green.autoblog.com/2011/05/21/quick-spin-amp-ml-ev/
The picture at the bottom says a lot. They show the engine, transmission, drive shaft and differential replaced by two Remy motors.
Posted by: SJC | 16 April 2013 at 01:03 PM
SJC, thanks for the link. I very much liked the side-by-side picture of fossil & electric drive trains.
Posted by: Arne | 16 April 2013 at 01:45 PM
You are welcome, it gets the point across :)
Posted by: SJC | 16 April 2013 at 02:02 PM
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/04/130416151929.htm "..jump-start a dead car battery -- and then recharge the phone in the blink of an eye."
Posted by: kelly | 16 April 2013 at 02:52 PM
Kelly
From the full article (Click on the word begun in the lead sentence):
“The era of using electricity to help improve performance and fuel economy is already here and the trend is only going to grow,” said Mike Robinson, GM vice president of Sustainability. “Today is further proof GM is leading in the development of electric vehicles that will improve America’s energy security.”
Posted by: sd | 16 April 2013 at 04:36 PM
sd, GM has nearly a century of crushed electric trolleys, crushed EVs, shelved EV battery patents(for oil companies), pathetic ICE fleet mpg, massive SUV campaigns, unmarketed(but $Billions in tax dollars pocketed) fuel cell cars, etc, etc, always conveying:
"..What's good for GM is good for America(’s energy security)"...
Posted by: kelly | 17 April 2013 at 07:08 AM
Isn't the Volt that produced by GM?
Posted by: Arne | 17 April 2013 at 10:57 PM
Anne, is that the Volt that helped grease/excuse $40 billion in bail/handouts, loudly halts it's assembly lines repeatedly, sells @~$40,000, was going to reduce it's MSRP "thousands of dollars" in Jan. 2013 like the Nissan Leaf, ..?
I've test 'road rallied' a Volt - w/a fun old couple and a nervous/pissed salesman and never said GM doesn't have solid engineers.
It's the corporate officers that use that engineering knowledge/foresight for distributing oil(bad mpg), financing($40B = MANY decades profit), and retarding global transportation.
Remember, GM: "Hybrid cars make no sense"
GM executive Lutz argues critically acclaimed hybrid compacts like Toyota Prius are bad business.
http://money.cnn.com/2004/01/06/pf/autos/detroit_gm_hybrids/
, which was repeated in 2008 during GM bankruptcy, and even perhaps now - as Toyota celebrates over five(5) MILLION hybrid sales.
It don't take an MBA to spot "walks like.. quacks like.."
Posted by: kelly | 18 April 2013 at 10:36 AM