UpGo.mobi media, focused on the evolution of the automotive industry

Author: Roomy

Before talking about this, I want to first criticize General Motors’ terrible naming skills.

Previously, the media reported that General Motors’ global electrification platform “Ultium” was a tongue-twister and needed a Chinese name for easier remembering. Unexpectedly, on September 14th, General Motors announced the Chinese name to be “AutoNeng”.

It is simply a direct translation, and while it is down-to-earth, it still sounds a bit awkward. Well, as they say, “Localization is done well” with a high emotional intelligence.

However, the excellent technology of the AutoNeng platform cannot be ignored. With more than 26 years of electrification research and development experience from General Motors, the technology characteristics such as “autonomous driving”, “BEV3 platform”, “Ultium battery”, etc. showcase General Motors’ future strategy: taking electric vehicle core technology as the foundation, intelligence as the core, and awakening new enthusiasm in automotive users.

Mary Barra, who has always been known as the “Iron Lady,” cannot wait any longer, even if investors and unions do not want to make the effort to understand her painstaking efforts. She has been repeatedly urged by investors to complete General Motors’ business restructuring as soon as possible, but it has been two years since the internal email that Mary Barra once sent out with all her heart.

“Hey, we must have investment returns,” Mary Barra said in response to the investors’ calls. “We need to work against the wind, be flexible, and not sit and wait for death.”

Called “Super Mary,” she has had tremendous breakthrough power since she was young and has been fearless all the way. Now, standing at the center of General Motors’ stage, she is even more vigorous, boldly reforming and restructuring, and cutting jobs like amputating a limb…

Mary Barra, who is good at “simplifying complexity,” can she lead this old-fashioned enterprise to revitalization and let the stars and stripes of the United States continue to fly over the General Motors headquarters building in Detroit?

Everyone knows that the answer lies in the new electrification platform, AutoNeng. However, nobody knows what kind of answer this platform will eventually bring to General Motors.

“We have the technology, the talent, the ambition, and the confidence to fulfill this promise,” Mary Barra firmly believes that the turning point of “pure electric, global sharing” has arrived, and General Motors will lead this revolution.

Nowadays, in an era where fresh news is constantly emerging, the word “leading” no longer feels shocking, and it is even hard to find the “tipping point” of leadership. However, when recalling General Motors’ electrification journey, Tesla, which came from Silicon Valley, is always an unavoidable presence.Because in Mary Barra’s leadership path, defeating other major car manufacturers and Tesla, as targets, is also the “hills” that need to be crossed.

Yes, it is a crossing.

In the past six or seven years, many people have regarded Tesla as a dismantled object, including the giants in Detroit. In Musk’s words, the whole world is full of animosity towards him, and the management of General Motors has also publicly criticized and attacked him because they looked down on Musk.

However, in the era of twists and turns, everyone gets a taste of it. Musk has become a big mountain on the electrification road of traditional car companies, whether these giants are willing to admit it or not.

It seems that since the American Times wrote in 2010 that “arrogant Detroit is more declining than old-fashioned cars”, the old generals in Detroit have no chance to wait for the last bus.

Either be reborn in change or decay in glory. There are two roads, but only one choice.

Surrounded Detroit is trapped in the city of sorrow, and the ambitious people in Wolfsburg are brewing the possibility of continuing to lead the world in the future. In any case, old companies are unwilling to die like this.

Mary Barra’s transformative nature is most strongly embodied. There is no doubt that the big changes of competitors have stimulated General Motors.

Successively sold off unsustainable Opel, Vauxhall, Holden and other brands, closed some factories in South Korea, Thailand, India and even the United States. Sell factories, raise funds, and vigorously carry out electrification reforms. General Motors, who had no intention of firmly implementing electrification transformation, was forced to change.

However, General Motors’ electrification transformation is still shrinking in China, the largest market, and its turning speed is sluggish and lazy. Therefore, this time, Mary Barra’s move is more determined than ever.

In fact, being indecisive won’t work either. Ford and General Motors, who have had new energy and even charging pile technology since the last century, have become “latecomers” in this market.

“The company is undergoing painful but necessary transformation. General Motors can no longer invest in slow-selling sedans and small cars, or in unprofitable remote markets. Money must be invested in electric vehicles and self-driving cars.”

Bank of America analysts believe that General Motors “is ready to stand out in this industry storm”.

Undoubtedly, the Ultium platform does carry General Motors’ 26 years of electrification research and development experience, but for the market and new consumers, what General Motors needs to awaken is a new consumer passion and new consumers.”We have redesigned the enterprise brand logo and launched advertising campaigns in key markets to reach the new generation of car users,” said Mary Barra at the conference, her calm tone masking a clear sense of readiness.

As expected, Mary Barra chose China as the battleground. At the forefront of this global innovation center and electric intelligent network-connected vehicle research and development and application, the Altium electric vehicle platform and VIP intelligent electronic architecture are about to land fully. General Motors’ vision is to create a diverse range of electric products covering all brands and segments through the Altium electric vehicle platform, with full power, range, and creativity.

In English, Ultium evokes associations with energy and power. Its Chinese name, Aoteni platform, represents a new concept of a large-scale car production platform that incorporates new demands and consumer concepts.

General Motors believes that there are three points of concern for electric vehicle users: pain points, itching points, and pleasure points.

First, pain points need to be addressed, such as range anxiety and battery safety. Only when pain points are resolved, will people have confidence in buying electric vehicles. Finally, pleasure points need to be addressed, which are the aspects of the product that users love and obsessed with.

“After addressing these three points, we solve the biggest problem of how users approach electric vehicles and purchase them,” said He Lei, CEO of New Journey, who offered some ideas to General Motors. “Safety determines whether we buy or not, but intelligence determines which electric vehicle we choose to buy.”

Therefore, “intelligence,” “performance,” and “safety” are defined as the three mainstays of the Aoteni platform.

Based on the modular design of batteries and electric drive, the platform features an industry-leading battery management system with wireless connectivity, patented thermal protection technology, and a new generation of VIP Cadillac cloud electronic architecture that supports continuous iteration and refinement of three-electric technology and whole-vehicle OTA functionality.

“It starts from scratch, but it’s not really starting from scratch,” said General Motors about the platform, expressing its attitude towards future electrification competition.

Foremost, the Aoteni platform will bring consumers the most advanced battery technology. General Motors and local battery suppliers have jointly developed a dedicated Chinese cell, optimized NCM ternary lithium batteries, and improved the thermal stability of the battery by 10%, achieving a 40-minute fast charge during the entire life cycle.

Although General Motors has missed some first-mover advantages, its battery layout still plays a solid role. Its original battery management system eliminates almost all harnesses and further enhances the platform’s flexibility through wireless connectivity.

Furthermore, based on VIP intelligent electronic architecture’s powerful electronic bandwidth and transmission speed, the battery management system can be updated remotely in real-time like a smart phone, and reportedly can protect the hardware and software with aerospace-level network security design.

In terms of the motor, General Motors has independently developed three motors, capable of matching five types of driving units for different vehicle models on the platform, from city commuting cars to luxurious SUVs and super pickups, achieving different performance behaviors such as front-wheel drive, rear-wheel drive, and four-wheel drive, and achieving the ultimate acceleration of 0 to 100 kilometers per hour in as quick as 3 seconds.

It is reported that SAIC-GM’s Pan Asia Technical Automotive Center participated in the development work of the Ultium OTN platform all the way, and 100% localization of the Ultium OTN battery cells and other critical components has been achieved.

Like Mercedes-Benz’s EVA and Audi’s PPE, platformization can bring many advantages, such as cost reduction and decreased development cycle.

“The flexibility of the OTN platform is not only reflected in the modularized hardware. It is also the first in mass-produced electric vehicles to adopt a battery management system that can achieve wireless connection. The system’s remote update strengthens the OTN battery technology’s ability to iterate quickly.” Kent Helfrich, vice president of General Motors Research and Development and chief technology officer, believes that the core of an electric vehicle is not just the electrification of the drive system.

However, in the boundaries of intelligence, performance, and safety, what we are most concerned about is General Motors’ “software-defined capability”.

After all, in the in-vehicle system, General Motors once threw out a long line, but did not catch a big fish. The birth of the OnStar in 1995 is a living example, which went from being a pioneer to a laggard and being surpassed by later comers.

Therefore, General Motors’ electrification strategy sets sail not only requires a solid platform, but also a vehicle model that can serve as an example of the platform’s strength. Not surprisingly, Cadillac was chosen by General Motors to fire the first shot after 26 years of brewing.

The first product in the Chinese market born under this platform, the Cadillac LYRIQ intelligent pure electric luxury SUV, is planned to be launched next year, and the Chinese market plans to launch 10 Ultium OTN platform domestically produced models in the next five years.

“On the road to electrification, Cadillac will not be absent, and will come prepared.” Gu Yanbin, head of the Cadillac marketing department at SAIC-GM, knows that Cadillac carries a “can only succeed, cannot fail” mission.

In fact, the speed of market changes also does not give room for failure. Thus, as Mary Barra hopes, General Motors does not want to be the polite competitor anymore.

As for whether LYRIQ can be a good explorer?

Gu Yanbin believes that “General Motors is a company with a history of 112 years, while Cadillac is a luxury car brand with a history of 119 years. These two centuries are a very good accumulation and endorsement of technology for Cadillac.”

The launch of Cadillac LYRIQ means that General Motors has endowed this car with the halo of its first mass-produced car on the brand new pure electric platform BEV3.0.

This is not only a new breakthrough and attempt, but also a reflection of Cadillac’s innovation and pattern. LYRIQ is first and foremost a Cadillac, but not a traditional Cadillac. Although this car has many brand features, at the same time, it is a brand-new car with a sense of technology, luxury, and future.

“First of all, it is a Cadillac, and then it is an intelligent pure electric SUV.” The Ota Energy platform can break the gap and estrangement between traditional car models. The significant brand characteristics and classic elements fully represent the future sense, sense of technology, and luxury of Cadillac design, which are reflected in this car.

“So, returning to the beginning, we are well prepared, and we are full of confidence.”

It is difficult to pry into Gu Yanbin’s confidence. At least, opportunities and chips are in sight. On September 17, Cadillac announced that its first luxury smart pure electric SUV will start pre-sale within the year.

For Cadillac, with the launch of LYRIQ, it meets a new sales model that meets both Cadillac and its consumers.

“We hope to inherit Cadillac’s brand connotation of technology and art, and then obtain a full representation on LYRIQ.” said Pan Mengmeng, the head of SAIC General Motors New Energy Strategy Department.

For the target audience of LYRIQ, Cadillac has conducted research for a long time. It is mainly divided into two categories: one is the pioneer users who pursue technology and new experiences; the other is those who also hope to have new technologies and experiences but are not willing to take risks and hope to adopt them when the technology is mature.

“At the beginning of designing LYRIQ, we wanted to appeal to two types of customers. We wanted to have a dynamic appearance and advanced technology that would attract those who love trying new things, while also possessing the quality and safety that comes with a century of luxury car production. Pan Mengmeng admitted that they weren’t aiming for a different design just for the sake of being different.

For pure electric vehicles, Cadillac will attempt a new direct sales model in retail and quickly iterate on products and services. In early September, the first Cadillac pure electric IQ Space has made its debut on the North Bund in Shanghai.

On September 22nd, Cadillac LYRIQ opened pre-orders in North America and achieved its first victory: from 4:00 pm Eastern Time until 4:19 pm, the initial version was sold out.

With the dream of taking a chance with General Motors and Mary Barra, will LYRIQ’s good fortune in Detroit spread to China?”

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.