GM ramps up EV research centre for “once in a century” transition

American automaker General Motors has opened its expanded and revamped Advanced Design Center which is to help ramp up its battery electric vehicle (EV) development while simultaneously reaching into the world’s largest EV market.

The newly upgraded Advanced Design Center is located in Shanghai and is adjacent to the GM China Science Lab and Engineering Center. The expansion was begun in October 2020  and will double the company’s advanced design capacity in China and accelerate its EV development, including design, and autonomous vehicles.

“Innovation allows us to adopt the best solutions available in a quick and agile way,” said Julian Blissett, GM executive vice president and president of GM China.

“More important, it will allow us to stay proactive in exploring synergies across the regions, to help us drive the once-in-a-century transformation of our industry.”

“We believe we now have the right strategy and the right technologies. We also believe that with facilities like the new GM China Advanced Design Center and its growing team of professionals, we have the right organizations and people to bring the most desirable products to China’s consumers in the new era of electrification and connectivity.”

GM hopes to gradually expand its local design team which will focus on the Chinese EV market while still cooperating closely with GM’s local design teams at the Warren Technical Center and California Advanced Design Center in the US, Korea Technical Center, and PATAC joint venture in China.

“The importance of this team to General Motors is why we’re investing in this facility and in this team’s growth,” said Ken Parkinson, GM China vice president of Design.