INNOVATION IS IN GM’S DNA
From the first electric starter to the first airbag, automaker has always pushed the limits of technology.
Over the last century, cars, trucks and crossovers transformed our lives by giving us the freedom of mobility. They changed the way people lived and worked, and the way cities came together. Today, we’re in the midst of another revolution as groundbreaking technologies and customer lifestyles are transforming personal mobility once again.
Recently, Mary Barra, GM’s chairman and CEO, put forth a bold and ambitious vision for the future to create a safer, better, more sustainable world for us all: Zero crashes — so we save lives.
Zero emissions — so our children can inherit a healthier planet.
Zero congestion — so our customers get back a precious commodity: time.
It’s a vision that unifies all of General Motors in purpose. A vision that has the potential each year to save 1.25 million lives worldwide by eliminating human error, the root cause of more than 94 per cent of vehicle crashes; eliminate over 2 billion tons of carbon dioxide; and give commuters back one week of time they spend in traffic every year.
Yes, it’s ambitious, but at General Motors, innovation is in our DNA. From pioneering the first electric starter and the first airbags, to assisting drivers in emergencies with OnStar, to becoming the first car company to mass-produce an affordable electric car, GM has always pushed the limits of engineering and technology. Now, just as we transformed how the world moved in the last century, GM is uniquely positioned to transform the next.
ZERO CRASHES
With safety as our top priority, GM is working toward a future of zero crashes.
We have systems in place now to protect passengers during a crash, but we’re also building crashavoidance technologies that will help prevent accidents from happening in the first place.
This includes technologies like automated emergency braking, lane departure warning, side blind-zone alerts and our “teen driver” software which helps parents instil safer driving habits in their young drivers.
Another key technology is Cadillac’s Super Cruise — the industry’s first truly hands-free driving system. Our Canadian engineers were key members of the team who worked on this breakthrough technology which uses two advanced systems: facial recognition software that keeps drivers engaged, and vehicle positioning via a combination of precision radars, cameras and a LiDAR-based (Light Detection and Ranging) mapping system to detect external surroundings.
We know self-driving vehicles will play a very important role in eliminating crashes, and we’re on track to commercialize this technology in an urban ride-sharing environment in 2019. Autonomous vehicles won’t be distracted by a text message or operate while impaired, and their speed will be appropriate to the conditions.
This revolutionary technology will help eliminate crashes with the aim that, one day, no more lives will be lost.
To expedite our self-driving journey, GM acquired Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based developer of autonomous vehicle technology. We’ve already deployed testing of self-driving vehicles in San Francisco, Scottsdale, Ariz., metro Detroit, and in Kapuskasing, Ont., at our Cold Weather Testing Facility. From extreme weather to high traffic, these locations represent some of the most challenging driving conditions. Successfully tackling those conditions is the fastest path toward deploying self-driving cars safely at scale.
In January, GM was the first company to file a safety petition with the U.S. Department of Transportation for our fourthgeneration of self-driving Cruise AV. It will be the first productionready vehicle built from the start to operate safely on its own, with no driver, no steering wheel, no pedals and without manual controls — and, again, our Canadian engineers are working as critical members of the software development team making this a reality.
ZERO EMISSIONS
General Motors believes in an allelectric future and a world with zero emissions. General Motors believes in the science of global warming, and we are responding.
Here in Canada, all our manufacturing plants are landfill-free, joining the 142 global facilities that recycle, reuse or convert-to-energy all waste from daily operations, reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In Canada, we are an industryleader for improving energy efficiencies and reducing consumption.
Our energy-saving projects have eliminated more than 26,000 tonnes of CO2 emission annually. GM Canada is also building a 6.4-megawatt co-generation plant that will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from our St. Catharines Propulsion Plant by more than 77 per cent using renewable landfill gas to generate electricity and recover thermal energy to power and heat the plant in Ontario.
On the vehicle propulsion side, we are moving relentlessly to a zero emissions future. No more gas. No more diesel. No more carbon emissions.
The Chevrolet Bolt EV, which cracked the code between longrange electric driving and affordability has been a game-changer with an EPA-estimated 363 kilometres of range. In 2017, Chevrolet sold more than one-third of all the plug-in EVs in Canada.
The Bolt EV demonstrates that General Motors has the capability to bring EVs to life faster than anyone else. Now it’s our test bed for all sorts of ways to look at transportation.
GM announced plans to bring 20 new, all-electric vehicle models to market globally by 2023.
We’re also working with public service utilities, hospitals, communities, and others to create charging infrastructure to help support customer acceptance of EVs which, in addition to consumer purchase incentives, have been shown to be the best and fastest way to increase consumer adoption.
ZERO CONGESTION
No one wants to waste time, fuel or money sitting in traffic. Achieving a world with zero congestion will require us to use vehicles to their maximum potential: keeping them moving and transporting each day for as long as possible.
Most personally owned vehicles sit idle 95 per cent of the time. Wasted time equals wasted opportunity. That’s why we started Maven, a personal mobility app. Maven provides hassle-free, ondemand vehicle access without the constraints of car ownership. All evidence shows that our nextgeneration of customers love it. Maven city car-sharing launched in Toronto this year.
Toronto’s Portlands will be a hotbed of experimentation for innovative approaches to mobility, where our most forward-thinking and early-adopting customers will be able to experience the most advanced developments in transportation.
At GM, we feel it’s our responsibility to take the lead role in creating solutions to fix the transportation problems of the world. We know collaboration is also key to solving global environmental and societal challenges. Across Canada, our partners are making major investments in research and development.
Around the world, forward-looking cities and businesses want to be included in the deployment and rollout of these advanced mobility solutions because they will enable so many more economic, social and inclusive benefits. Advanced mobility will catalyze a safer, more sustainable and less congested world for us all.
Cities that can get these conditions right, will be the first to see large-scale partnerships with General Motors. I believe we have all the ingredients to achieve this right here in Canada.
In a world where innovation and unrecognized possibilities exist, we not only have the unique opportunity to be part of this industry transformation, we have the privilege and responsibility to shape how it will fit into the world.
This is just the beginning.