The future is green for General Motors and it has further established its commitment to forward-thinking technology with the opening of what has been dubbed the largest and most technologically advanced battery lab in the USA.
The Global Battery Systems Lab has been opened on its Technical Centre campus in Warren, MI, and is set to lead GM’s global advanced battery engineering resources as well as the introduction of electrically driven vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt.
The lab spans some 33,000sq ft and will include a team of more than 1,000 engineers. Planning for the lab began in December 2007 with construction beginning in August 2008. Operations then began in January, some nine months ahead of schedule, with the lab becoming fully functional in May equipped with 42 thermal chambers and 160 test channels.
More than half of the lab is dedicated to testing electrochemical battery cells and modules with the remaining floor space committed to evaluating completed battery packs.
The lab itself includes many environmentally friendly features such as a centre hallway with high-efficiency LED lighting and a floor made from recycled tyres. Around 90 per cent of the electricity used for battery testing can be returned to the local energy grid.
