GM investing in electric cars beyond the Chevy Volt

The old GM was a huge company with diverse product offerings but it struggled to cohesively direct all of its parts toward a central goal; and it also had incurred an overwhelming amount of debt in the form of retirement commitments. With the government’s help, GM has shed a lot of weight and obligations, and now it’s focused on innovating at an accelerated pace. A new deal with startup Bright Automotive is one example, and it further develops GM’s plug-in hybrid portfolio.

Until now most of the new GM’s focus in the plug-in hybrid space has circled around the Chevy Volt, which has a lot of potential to serve the average driver without ever requiring gas during a typical work week. In its contract with Bright Automotive, GM has agreed to invest in return for a minority stake in the startup. Bright Automotive also gains access to much of GM’s technology which it hopes to use while developing a new plug-in hybrid commercial vehicle called IDEA.

IDEA has some similarities to the Chevy Volt in its value proposition, which makes sense considering that some of the underlying technology may be the same. From the press release:

The IDEA delivers a positive total cost of ownership to fleet customers by providing significantly greater fuel efficiency than current fleet vehicles in its class.  The IDEA operates in electric mode for 40 miles before switching to an estimated 36-mpg hybrid mode for 100+ mpg potential based on daily driving behavior.  

This agreement does a couple of important things for GM. First it allows the company to continue innovating without growing its core staff, and second it diversifies the audience it’s targeting with plug-in hybrid vehicles. Companies who own commercial fleet and transport vehicles are certainly interested in more efficient energy use because even a small gain can make a big difference with lots of vehicles traveling many miles.