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GM taps Honeywell's Quality Control System for Ultium battery plant

The Chevrolet Bolt recall has been so frustrating for General Motors that the automaker made an unexpected show of public hopelessness in saying it was "not confident" that LG — which produces the Bolt's batteries — could produce batteries without defects. Even though the remark came before investigation teams founds the source of the Bolt battery issue, it was even more strange considering GM and LG are still in bed together, the two having invested more than $2.3 billion in a 2.8-million-square-foot plant to make GM's Ultium batteries in Lordstown, Ohio. Now that GM has even more motivation to keep its Ultium batteries free of scandal, GM has tapped Honeywell for that company's Quality Control System at the Lordstown facility. The Honeywell QCS will monitor four of the production lines at the facility using "high-precision scanners and basis weight sensors." One of the parameters measured will be electrode coat weight, a key stat in battery performance. Another measurement and control company wrote, "Improving the electrode coating process is a significant part of the equation to delivering better quality and better performing cells – and coating uniformity is seen more and more as a critical requirement." Honeywell says it has more than 20 years of experience with lithium-ion technology, and the firm is already found throughout the green economy. A GM spokesman made sure to say that "the awarding of the Ultium contract to Honeywell has nothing to do with the Bolt recall." Yet in the Honeywell press release, a company director spoke words that could have come straight from GM, with, "Given the opportunity at hand, battery manufacturers such as Ultium Cells must be able to bring new solutions to market with confidence." The new Lordstown facility is scheduled to open in the first quarter of next year. It will employ more than 1,100 workers building the prime movers for coming EVs like the new Hummer and the Cadillaq Lyriq. Ideally, before then, GM will have found and fixed all of the Bolts with issues, and can begin its Ultium era under sunny skies. The automaker started accepting LG batteries again last week, the new batteries should begin reaching dealers around the same time Bolt production resumes on October 11. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Green GMC Safety Technology Electric

GMC Hummer EV could have had the Chevrolet Avalanche's Midgate

One of the many rumors swirling around the GMC Hummer EV claimed the truck would resurrect the Midgate inaugurated by the original Chevrolet Avalanche. Although we now know there's no way to fully knock down the partition between the cab and the cargo box, the firm revealed the rumor wasn't entirely false. "There was [a Midgate] early on. We opted for the functionality of the drop glass in the back. With the package layout and things like that, it was not advantageous to pursue that one. And, the five-foot bed was kind of the industry standard in regards to price of entry in that segment," explained John Mack, the Hummer's exterior design management, during an interview with Muscle Car & Trucks. The Hummer will go on sale with a five-foot box, and it doesn't sound like a longer bed will be available, so a modern version of the Midgate would have made the model more versatile by giving users the ability to fold down the partition behind the rear seats to carry bulky items, like plywood and ATVs. It's a feature that would have inevitably made the truck more complicated to build, however, because it adds moving parts that need to be sealed. Hinges, seals, and latches in turn add weight, and complexity almost always invites high manufacturing costs. As an electric pickup built with newly-developed components, the Hummer already has enough of each. Motorists who need to carry something that's significantly longer than the cargo box aren't entirely out of luck. As Mack pointed out, the rear window drops into the partition, so owners will have the ability to haul surfboards, lumber, or anything else that's relatively long and reasonably thin by simply pushing a switch. Alternatively, the only thing limiting cargo space when the roof comes off is the sky — or, depending on where you live, bridges. Mack didn't reveal when the Midgate was dropped. GMC launched the Hummer project in April 2019, and it previously released early design sketches that show how the truck transitioned from a sketch to a prototype. As of writing, nothing suggests the Midgate will make a comeback in the near future on any member of the General Motors portfolio. It was introduced in 2001 on the first-generation Chevrolet Avalanche, which went on sale in the United States for the 2002 model year. It later spread to Cadillac's luxed-up variant of the truck, the Escalade EXT, and to the short-lived GMC Envoy XUV.

Chevy's 6.6-liter Duramax is pretty much all new

To say there's a heated battle in heavy-duty pickups is an understatement, with Chevrolet, Ford, and Ram constantly trading blows of increased torque, horsepower, and towing capacity. The latest salvo is the revised, more powerful turbo diesel 6.6-liter Duramax V8 in the 2017 Chevy Silverado. It has 910 pound-feet of torque, an increase of 145, putting it nearly level with the Ford Super Duty. Here's a closer look at where those gains come from. How exactly did Chevrolet add all that torque plus 48 horsepower? The automaker essentially took a fine-tooth comb to the entire engine. Chevy says it changed 90 percent of the V8, and the cumulative effect of those small changes adds up to big increases. As you might guess, the turbocharger is updated. The larger unit features electric actuation of the variable nozzle turbine (VNT), and what Chevy calls a double axle cartridge mechanism that separates the VNT moving parts from the housing. That helps with heat performance as well, with a claim that the exhaust side of the turbo can run continuously up to 1,436 degrees Fahrenheit. Helping that cause are six exhaust gaskets made of Inconel - an nickel alloy that contains chromium and iron – and upgraded stainless steel for the exhaust manifold. Despite having the same cast iron cylinder block, albeit with some minor enhancements, the engine has new cylinder heads, pistons, piston pins, connecting rods, and crankshaft, which have all been upgraded to handle 20 percent higher cylinder pressures. Alongside the increase in pressure, Chevrolet also increased the cylinder head's structure with a honeycomb design. The pattern features high-strength aluminum with dual layer water jackets that not only improve strength, but also optimize water flow for better cooling. For 2017, the cylinder head also benefits from integrated plenum that aids the engine in getting more air under heavy loads. The cylinder head isn't the only component to get a minor update, as the pistons have a larger diameter pin for improved oil flow. The same detailed improvements has been bestowed to the humble connecting rods (second in our hearts only to the inanimate carbon rod). The new design has the bolts oriented roughly 45-degrees to the rod instead of parallel. The angle split design, as it's called allows for easier passage through the cylinder.