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GM will likely build PHEV batteries in China soon

It's a big week for batteries. Friday, Tesla will hold a big event at its Gigafactory in Reno, NV. But even in Michigan, there are things happening on the electrified automotive front. This was proven when GM invited journalists to its Brownstown Battery Assembly Plant today, highlighting the six different battery packs it makes for nine vehicles around the world (plus a tenth, coming to Asia, that has not yet been announced). During our tour, we learned a few interesting tidbits that we thought readers would like to hear: The Cadillac CT6 plug-in hybrid launches in China this fall before coming to the US next year. GM builds the battery packs in Michigan and ships them to China for final assembly in the PHEV. For now, this is all fine for GM to qualify for China's incentives for building green cars in the country. But, as Bill Wallace, GM's director of global battery systems, told AutoblogGreen, this could change thanks to the country's 'Made in China 2025' plan. The situation is "evolving," he said, and it's a safe assumption that GM will need to build packs in China some day. For the CT6 PHEVs that will be sold in the US, the batteries will make a round trip, since GM will only build the plug-in version in China. As for the range of the CT6 PHEV, that hasn't been announced, but since China offers incentives for vehicles that get at least 50 kilometers (31 miles), that's a likely target (the US range (UPDATE: GM did announce an expected range for the CT6 PHEV in the US at the LA Auto Show last fall, saying it would "travel approximately 30 miles on a full electric charge"). The battery pack in the CT6 is also a clunky box-type thing, totally unlike the near-elegant T-shape used in the Volt. This despite the fact that the guts of the two packs are similar. Both have 192 li-ion cells and weigh almost the same, but GM tuned the CT6 pack for acceleration instead of range, the way it did with the Volt's pack. Still, the main reason the packs are different is because the CT6 is a rear-wheel drive vehicle, and the tunnel that the Volt's pack uses is occupied by the driveshaft. Despite the highly touted second-gen Chevy Volt going on sale last year, GM still has the capacity to build battery packs for the old, first-gen model. This is because the company is legally required to be able to provide replacement packs for warrantied vehicles (for up to 10 years), and the second-gen packs don't fit into the first-gen vehicles.

2020 Cadillac XT4 Sport Drivers' Notes | Worth a look, or two

The 2020 Cadillac XT4 is Cadillac’s smallest crossover in its burgeoning lineup of SUVs. Most of the attention is on the new Escalade these days, but the XT4 is where someone with a lighter budget might enter the Cadillac brand. Our tester happens to be the Sport model, giving it a distinctive appearance, separate from the Luxury and Premium Luxury trims. This one has a gloss black mesh grille, black trim throughout the exterior and Sport-specific wheels — the others rely much more heavily on chrome. Cadillac stepped it up in the design studio for the XT4, as one of its best qualities is the exterior design. It compares well to other small crossovers and doesn't look like your typical cookie-cutter crossover on the road. ThereÂ’s only one engine available, and itÂ’s a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder that makes 237 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. When the XT4 came out for the 2019 model year, this engine was brand new. Today, Cadillac is passing it around the lineup to vehicles like the CT5 and CT4. A nine-speed automatic transmission is the only transmission option, as well. Our tester has all-wheel drive, but front-wheel drive is standard on lesser XT4s. There isnÂ’t a whole lot changed for the 2020 model year, but Cadillac did add an “Off Road” mode and made a bunch of safety equipment standard. With our test car being a Sport trim with all-wheel drive equipped, the base price is $42,295, a fair bit greater than the $36,690 standard car. After options, our XT4 totaled $48,310. The most expensive extra is a $1,500 Bose Centerpoint audio system, combined with navigation. An $1,100 Driver Assistance package brought adaptive cruise control, enhanced automatic emergency braking and reverse automatic emergency braking. A Cold Weather package added heated seats all around and a heated steering wheel for $850. Finally, the $470 Driver Awareness package brought automatic high beams and lane-keep assist. Senior Editor, Green John Beltz Snyder: This one grew on me the more I drove it. I was unconvinced for the first part of my drive, but then things started to feel more well-though-out as I used them. For instance, the line of buttons across the center stack looks daunting, until you turn the car on and their labels are illuminated. Then everything is easy to find thanks to the lighting, symmetry and the fact that you only have to look down a single line of buttons rather than hunt around a grid pattern.

GM's Cruise Origin EV platform to be shared by many electric vehicles

GM on Monday announced that it was spending $2.2 billion at its Detroit-Hamtramck facility, part of its $3 billion commitment made after the UAW strike to transform Hamtramck into the company's first plant to exclusively build a wide variety of electric and autonomous vehicles. The operation will eventually employ 2,225 people. Hamtramck is still building the Cadillac CT6 and Chevy Impala. Production of those cars will wind down Feb. 28, when GM will idle the lines for 18 months of retooling. During the transition, more than 800 workers will likely be transferred to build pickups at Fort Wayne, Indiana, or Flint, Michigan. When Hamtramck production of new EVs begins in late 2021, the Cruise Origin electric shuttle revealed last week will be among the first vehicles built there. Also, an electric pickup likely branded as a Hummer to be sold as a GMC, which will be debuted by LeBron James during the Super Bowl this Sunday. GM made quite a few pronouncements during the unveiling of the electric, autonomous Cruise Origin last week in San Francisco. We heard that the Origin was designed to last for for 1 million miles, be "roughly half the cost of what a conventional electric SUV costs today,” and riders could save as much as $5,000 per year by giving up their cars for Origins. Much was left out, as well, such as detailed specs on the platform, and when the Origin could see wide deployment. Carscoops addressed one open question about the platform, reporting that the Origin's bones will be shared among a number of other GM battery-electric vehicles, probably starting with the Cadillac EV due in 2021. The site received confirmation of that tidbit from Megan Soule, the automaker's assistant manager of Electrification, Battery Technology, Fuel Cells, R&D and GM Ventures Communications. It seems what we've been shown in the Origin is the first fruit of the multi-vehicle EV strategy GM CEO Marry Barra presented at the 2017 Barclays Global Automotive Conference. One of the slides (below, full PDF presentation here) touts an "All new multi-brand, multi-segment platform" with a "Structurally integrated all new battery system." The next slide places that modular platform at the center of 11 new vehicles, the van-looking silhouette on the upper right labeled "SAV," for shared autonomous vehicle, apparently in reference to the Origin.