Mexican Media Brands
How General Motors Develops World-Class Propulsion Systems
Dan Nicholson is vice president of General Motors Global Propulsion Systems, the organization that had been “GM Powertrain” for 24 years.
#hybrid #electronics
.jpg;width=70;height=70;mode=crop)
Share
Dan Nicholson is vice president of General Motors Global Propulsion Systems, the organization that had been “GM Powertrain” for 24 years. Then the company recognized the fact that it is doing a whole lot more than combustion engines and step-gear transmissions, things like the battery systems and controls for vehicles including the Chevy Volt and Chevy Bolt, things like fuel-cell development (GM and Honda are working collaboratively on this).
Nicholson has had a wide, propulsion-system centric career at GM (though he was vp of Quality at one point). He’s worked on engines, controllers, software, calibration, testing, etc. He’s worked in China, Europe and the U.S.
One of the things he’s particularly proud of is having served as chief engineer for the renowned LS7 engine (a 7.0-liter V8 that produces 505 hp and that has found its way under the hoods of many really fast Corvettes and Camaros).
LS7
And because the GM Performance and Racing Center has now setup shop at the Global Propulsion Systems Engineering Center in Pontiac, Michigan, Nicolson brings along another high-performance engine to the studio of “Autoline After Hours,” the C7R racing engine. This is a 5.5-liter V8 that produces 500 hp and 510 hp. This particular engine will be making its way to Long Beach for the IMSA race there in April.
Because of the wide-ranging nature of what GM Propulsion Systems is addressing, Nicholson spends essentially the entire show with John McElroy, Bill Visnic of SAE International and me on this episode.
Topics range from electrification to combustion, from why there needs to be closer cooperation between oil companies and automakers in order to address CAFE requirements to how they’re recruiting at college campuses to get the kind and caliber of people they need to advance the technology.
After Nicholson leaves the set McElroy, Visnic and I discuss a variety of subjects, including why having fewer models on offer may be more efficient for OEMs to the recent results from the J.D. Power Vehicle Dependability Study.
And you can see it all here:
RELATED CONTENT
-
2019 Honda Insight
One of the things that rarely gets the amount of attention that it should in a typical “car review” is the fact that for a considerable amount of time drivers are not “getting on the throttle” because for a considerable number of drivers, they’re “dwelling on the binders,” a.k.a., sitting with their foot depressed on the brakes, perhaps lifting every now and then in order to nudge forward in traffic.
-
The Genovation GXE: >220 mph and Street Legal
A 2019 Corvette Grand Sport has a starting price on the order of $66,950. The Genovation GXE, which is predicated on the Corvette Grand Sport, will set you back some $750,000.
-
Can You Drive an EV in the Rain?
Although there is a veritable fleet of electric vehicles coming on the global market within the next few years, it seems that if the results of research in the United Kingdom track in any way with the rest of the world then the OEMs are in for a whole lot of electric vehicles sitting unsold in dealer lots.
