Magnetics Business & Technology - May/June 2022 - 6

FEATURE ARTICLE
GM Powers Ahead with e-Propulsion Innovation & Investment, Cutting Deals with VAC, GE
Renewable Energy and MP Materials
GMC Hummer EV brings bold design and remarkable capability to the electrified vehicle space. GMC introduces the Hummer EV in an ad titled
" Quiet Revolution " featuring basketball star LeBron James.
General Motors is reaching deep into its wallet to forge business
growth and technical advancements in electric vehicles,
including backing the establishment of new magnet factories in
the U.S. while also driving innovation in permanent magnet and
inductive motor technology.
An early leader in EV development, in more recent times GM has
had a reputation for lagging behind the advancements of other
automotive manufacturers that have been more aggressive in
developing their EV platforms. Now, it is charging ahead. GM
plans to Invest $35 billion in EV and automated vehicle product
development by 2025. It plans to launch more than 30 EVs
globally through 2025 and sell more than 1 million EVs globally
by then with a goal of earning EV market leadership in North
America.
In bold moves to cement in a secure supply chain for its mushrooming
roster of EV models, GM recently has taken strong
positions in backing new production capabilities for magnet
manufacturing and to build the rare earth supply chain. It has
signed three major agreements, one with a large purchase order
to MP Materials (see more on page 39 of this issue), another
with Vacuumschmelze of Germany, and a third with wind turbine
manufacturer GE Renewable Energy.
In December, GM and Vacuumschmelze, known as VAC Mag6
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netics in America, announced plans for VAC to build a plant in
the U.S. that will manufacture permanent magnets for the electric
motors used in the GMC Hummer EV, Cadillac Lyriq, Chevrolet
Silverado EV and more than a dozen other models using GM's
Ultium Platform. The new plant would plan to use locally sourced
raw materials, presumably from MP Materials' rare earth mine in
Mountain Pass. VAC is a leading global producer of advanced
magnetic materials and the largest producer of permanent
magnets in the Western Hemisphere with nearly 100 years of
experience.
" We are building a resilient and sustainable EV manufacturing
value chain in North America from raw materials to components
to drive GM's growth and support a mass market for EVs, " said
Shilpan Amin, GM vice president, global purchasing and supply
chain. " Our work with VAC is another bold step forward that
will help ensure that we meet our goal to lead the EV industry in
North America in more than just sales. "
" We are thrilled to join forces with GM on this journey into an increasingly
electrified world, leveraging sustainable clean energy
solutions, " said Dr. Erik Eschen, CEO of VAC. As VAC's Permanent
Magnet Division is the only industrial scale producer of
rare earth permanent magnets in the Western Hemisphere, VAC
brings reliable scale and experience to GM's supply chain.

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Magnetics Business & Technology - May/June 2022

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