Electric cars are the future. At least that’s what a few car makers want us to believe. GM already has a few electric cars on the market, like the Volt, which was shown off at the North American International Auto Show in January. GM and it’s subsidiary Chevy, is working on an electric car that can go 200 miles on one charge. Which is known as the Bolt. The Bolt is also supposed to be sold at a decent price too, so expect it to be much cheaper than Tesla’s offerings. In a press release today, the auto maker announced that they will be partnering with LG for the Bolt. To be specific, they will be working with LG Electronics and LG Chem, who did work close with GM to develop the Bolt EV concept.
LG Electronics Vehicle Components Co., President and CEO, Woo-jong Lee stated, “being selected as GM’s EV technology partner positions LG as a key player in next-generation vehicular technologies.”
This partnership makes plenty of sense for both sides. LG, specifically LG Chem, has made huge strides in battery technology. Which is going to help GM in building this electric car and future ones that can go farther and need to be charged less. Now this isn’t the first time LG has worked with GM, they are part of OnStar, they supplied GM with telematics in 2007 for that system. And LG Check supplied battery technology and cells for the original Chevy Volt which debuted in 2010. So these two parties are no stranger to each other.
Both of these companies are also Android Auto partners with Google in the Open Automotive Alliance, although that has nothing to do with this announcement. It is likely that the Bolt will have Android Auto when it does finally roll out and is available from dealers. GM is expecting the Chevy Bolt to start at around $30,000 for the entry model. Significantly less than most of the other electric vehicles out there, especially ones that can go at least 200 miles on a single charge. It’ll be interesting to see how long before it hits the market though.