With its Hummer EV, GM has cut 3 years out of its usual 5-year design time.
GM says that the new development process is saving $1.5 billion annually. GM is using new technologies such as virtual product testing and hardware-in-the-loop testing to cut product development time dramatically. It also helps that the Hummer EV is using a battery that was previously developed and has far fewer parts compared to combustion engine technology.
Testing virtual parts saves money since 3-D printed parts can cost 10-20 times more than mass produced parts do. Virtual reality is being used by human test drivers to further reduce development time.
Video Spotlight:
- Tech Highlight Demo: Adams Real Time: Hardware-in-the-loop Solution (Jun 15, 2018, Hexagon)
- Virtual reality test drives | Daily Planet (Feb 17, 2017, Discovery Canada)
- A Man Bought a 3D printer and Printed a Lamborghini with his son in their Garage (Jul 25, 2020, Wonders of the World)
- Replacing Classic Car Parts using 3D Printing Technology (Nov 23, 2015, Objective3D)
This post is based on the CNN article, GM is making the Hummer EV in record time. Here’s how, by Peter Valdes-Dapena, November 21, 2020; the Detroit Continue reading
