Naomi Cooper
General Motors‘ defense business arm has partnered with the University of Texas at Arlington Pulsed Power and Energy Laboratory and Naval Surface Warfare Center Philadelphia Division to assess commercial automotive batteries for potential military applications.
Under the Evaluation of Electric Vehicle Batteries to Enable Directed Energy project, GM Defense will provide a commercial electric vehicle battery technology based on the Ultium Platform propulsion architecture for the evaluation and testing of automotive batteries, the company said Tuesday.
The project, by the Department of Defense’s Operational Energy Innovation Office, aims to examine the current capabilities of commercial EV batteries when used under dynamic discharge and charge scenarios.
“These technologies offer significant potential to enhance operational capability, whether at the tactical edge or on installations throughout the world,” said Steve duMont, president of GM Defense.
GM Defense also participates in the Defense Innovation Unit’s Jumpstart for Advanced Battery Standardization project, which seeks to test and analyze commercial EV battery technologies for future defense programs.
