Do we need to state the obvious? Legacy auto sucks at software. So how do our friends at General Motors plan to deal with the increasing importance of software in a world of electric vehicles?
General Motors plans to hire 3,000 employees by the first quarter of 2021 to accelerate electric vehicle production and enhance vehicle software, GM said in a statement Monday.
Automotive News
Ah yes, hiring thousands of software engineers! What a plan. That should definitely make things go faster, right?
The additional jobs, many of which are related to GM’s proprietary Ultium batteries and EV development, will help GM stick to the new EV standard set by the electric GMC Hummer pickup, which was developed in 18 months.
Automotive News
Developed in 18 months, now we just need the software! That should be pretty quick, right? Maybe we can hire some of the expert developers from the ID.3 project.
“We really want to advance the entire EV portfolio, and that’s where we need the extra horsepower of having 3,000 additional software engineers,” Ken Morris, vice president of autonomous and EV programs, told reporters. “We’ve figured out how to do this very quickly, and that’s just going to help us move faster.”
Automotive News
Sometimes more software engineers can make a project go faster. Other times, it can actually make things slower.
New software jobs will help advance GM’s vehicle intelligence platform, which supports active safety, infotainment, connectivity, over-the-air updates and the Super Cruise driver-assist system. GM also will invest in OnStar Guardian, which allows OnStar members to access safety services from their phones.
Automotive News
Wouldn’t it be great if we could connect with our cars from our phones?
Production of the utility variant and a freshened Bolt EV will begin in summer 2021 at Orion Assembly in Michigan. It will be built on GM’s previous battery architecture, rather than GM’s proprietary Ultium battery architecture.
Automotive News
Ultium is so good, they’re not even going to use it.
Morris also said GM is looking forward to working with President-elect Joe Biden’s administration on “policies that will foster greater adoption of EVs across all 50 states and encourage investments in R&D and manufacturing.”
Automotive News
Okay… do it.
Hi Steve,
Why do you think GM hired 3k engineers to build the badger specifically, versus other projects?
hahaha that was just my joke. 3000 is for the whole ultium platform which will be used in the Hummer EV, other GM EVs and also the badger if it ever gets built