GM Says Future DNA of Automobile and Greening of Transportation Requires Public/Private Partnership

Image by Getty Images via DaylifeLarry Burns, General Motors vice president for Research & Development and Strategic Planning, today called for the creation of a new public/private partnership to rapidly commercialize key U.S. automotive technologies.

In a speech to the Transportation Research Board at the 88th Annual Meeting, Burns said such a partnership should be focused on collaboration to ensure that U.S.-developed technologies reach the commercial “tipping point” where markets will naturally sustain volume growth.

“Markets must ultimately drive the high-volume supply and demand of advanced technology vehicles,” Burns said. “Governments cannot afford to subsidize high volumes, companies cannot afford to price below cost at high volumes, and consumers will not purchase in high volume if prices exceed value. What is needed is a mechanism to share the public/private risks and rewards of transitioning to ‘tipping points’ through early commercialization of transformational technologies.”

Burns said the partnership should include the U.S. government, auto manufacturers and suppliers, the energy and infrastructure industries, and other key stakeholders. He said its focus should be on enabling technologies for electrically driven vehicles such as advanced batteries, electric motors, power electronics, fuel cells, hydrogen infrastructure and storage systems and connected vehicle technologies such as sensors, actuators, wireless communications and GPS systems.

A new automotive technology partnership could:

• Create enabling technologies and the next-generation of high-efficiency automobiles;
• Set the policy framework for coordinated supply and demand during
  first- and second-generation commercialization of new automotive technology;
• Develop a supply base and manufacturing infrastructure for next-generation automobiles;
• Strengthen the U.S. industrial base, and
• Deliver a broad set of societal benefits, including enhanced energy security, sustainable mobility, increased competitiveness and significant economic and jobs growth.

“The transformation to electrically driven and connected vehicles is both exciting and necessary,” Burns said. “Amid growing concern about economic and energy security, sustainable mobility, safety and congestion, there is an increasing realization that the current automobile, powered by a combustion engine, is simply not sustainable. As we electrify and connect our vehicles, we will see a transformation in the basic 120-year-old DNA of the automobile. A U.S. partnership focused on the new DNA of the automobile will ensure that the U.S. continues to be a leader in this vital area of national interest.”