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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 Acadia goes big again? Spy photos show next-gen prototype

GMC is testing what looks a lot like a new full-size SUV, signaling the likelihood that it will return to full-size segment after the current generation has run its course. GM downsized the Acadia for the 2017 redesign, carving nearly 10 inches off its length and 3 inches from its girth. For the next generation, it appears that script will be aggressively flipped.  The hierarchy of GM's unibody family SUVs was already a bit wonky before the Acadia's 2017 redesign, and continues to be now. While it would be logical for the Chevrolet Traverse, GMC Acadia, Buick Enclave and Cadillac XT6 — all three-row crossovers — to be different skins on the same fundamental chassis, that's not actually the case. The Acadia is a full foot shorter than either the Traverse or Enclave, with the XT6 falling in between. Based on these photos, that will no longer be the case when the new GMC Acadia debuts. Since the current one went on sale in 2016 as a 2017 model, it's about due for a replacement.  We can't see much beyond basic proportions here, but those tell a clear story. It's pretty obvious that the hood on the prototype is wider and sits higher than on the current car, with perhaps less slope to the now-wider nose. We can also see the faintest impressions of creasing on the flanks, likely leading to the same broad, angular hip treatment present on the current car. Viewed side-by-side, we can see a little more front and rear overhang. There's no obvious hint of substantially longer wheelbase here (the rear doors line up almost perfectly), so we're probably looking at something that is wider but not necessarily much longer.  In any event, we shouldn't have to wait too long to find out exactly what GM has in store for its "Pro" brand.  Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

2023 GMC Canyon debuts August 11

Chevrolet started GM's new-generation midsize truck party with the 2023 Colorado, now GMC's about to hit the stage with the 2023 Canyon. On August 11 at 11 a.m. Eastern time, we'll see what the new generation has done for the Colorado's upscale sibling. GMC teased us with a low angle of the coming Canyon in AT4X trim April. That revealed brawnier bits like big Goodyear Wrangler tires wrapped around 17-inch beadlock-capable wheels, plastic wheel arch flares, and rock rails. The initial version of that trim will be called the AT4X with Edition 1 Package, the front view showing split headlights, a new grille, thin LEDs, and a brush bar like the unit sprouting from nose of the Colorado ZR2 Desert Boss. We're also told there will be a "higher and wider stance, which is factory lifted." The current AT4 trim gets raised one inch, and we have a feeling the AT4X will get around three inches on its tippy toes just like the Colorado ZR2. The rationalization of body styles into a single Crew Cab Short Box will make ease configurations and production. Sadly, the 2.8-liter Duramax four-cylinder diesel is all but certain to be a goner here as well. The 2.7-liter four-cylinder gas engine should slip in here as the sole engine choice in two or three outputs. There's no telling which trims will get which outputs standard, but the choices are a base tune with 237 horsepower and 259 pound-feet of torque, a middle turbocharged tune with 310 hp and 390 lb-ft, and a high-output turboed topper with 310 hp and 430 lb-ft.   The 2023 GMC Canyon AT4X with Edition 1 Package will be available to order on the same day the lineup is revealed, at which time we expect to find out what's included in the Edition 1 versions compared to the AT4X variant that will join the lineup for series production. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.