Military EVs inbound

It was only a matter of time before the unlimited funds of the world’s biggest military machines – in this case the USA – teamed up with car-makers to develop electric solutions for the theatre of war.

There are several strategic benefits that EVs could bring to the battlefield compared to conventional combustion-powered vehicles – instant torque, lower maintenance and quieter operation. But at the same there are limitations, especially in terms of how far they can travel and how much they weigh.

Nevertheless, the US Department of Defense’s high-tech division, the Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), has contracted GM Defense to develop a prototype military-spec battery pack that can be integrated with existing military vehicle platforms.

GM Defence is a branch of General Motors that specialists in military hardware development and it’s expected the American brand’s Ultium EV platform will be leveraged to deliver the first pilot project.

Significant changes – namely redundancy systems and extra shielding – are likely to be required for GM’s Ultium platform, whose integrated battery and propulsion systems are already in use in vehicles like the rock-crushing GMC Hummer EV.

Steve duMont, president of GM Defense, said that GM’s seismic shift into the EV world makes it the ideal partner for a US military alliance.

“GM Defense offers a unique advantage with our ability to leverage proven commercial capabilities and the billions in GM investments in electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle technologies in order to help provide our customers with the most advanced capabilities the commercial market can offer,” he said.

Given the Ultium platform’s modular architecture that can take advantage of various battery cell forms and chemistries, allowing for different physical sizes and travelling ranges, it’s expected the potentially bottomless military investment will contribute to improving GM’s road-going EVs over time.

What results from the GM military contract is anyone’s guess but the US Army has already signed a deal with GM Defense to deliver a GMC Hummer EVs for evaluation purposes, so an armoured and potentially weaponised version of the off-road weapon seems a likely bet.

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