General Motors hints at major tech innovation that could completely transform future vehicles: 'The momentum is really there'
A General Motors battery research and development official has revealed an interesting nugget of information in regard to the automaker's power pack future.
Within the decade, GM intends to use promising silicon anodes for some of its electric vehicles, according to InsideEVs.
"The evolution toward silicon anodes is now starting," George Cintra, the GM battery R&D director, told the publication. "You're going to see more silicon incorporated into EV batteries because it provides added range and also helps fast-charge."
Silicon, one of Earth's most abundant elements, can hold 10 times the lithium ions per pound than common graphite anodes, helping it achieve better performance with less weight, according to IEEE Spectrum. Ions move between the anode and cathode, through the electrolyte, while operating.
But silicon bloats during charge/discharge cycles, hindering performance and wide-scale use, IEEE noted. In response, innovations, including special coatings to limit expansion and improve performance, are in development.
Cintra didn't provide InsideEVs with a lot of details on GM's battery tech — or sourcing — outside of the intent to beef up silicon use. But the optimism surrounding the element is warranted.
California's Amprius said the silicon anode it's working on provides a 90% charge in 15 minutes. Late last year, Taiwan's ProLogium showcased a pack that can provide nearly 200 miles on only five minutes of charging. Panasonic is also among the companies investing in silicon anodes.
The GM news arrives amid a strong U.S. EV market, as nearly 130,000 new and used cleaner rides were sold in January, beating year-over-year marks in both categories, per Cox Automotive. GM brand Cadillac expects one in every three vehicles it sells this year will be battery powered, as CNBC News reported.
"The momentum is really there," brand marketing director Brad Franz said, per CNBC.
Sales stateside continue to be aided by tax breaks worth up to $7,500 and $4,000 for new and used EVs, respectively. That's in addition to the $1,500 that motorists can expect to save on gas and maintenance costs. Furthermore, each EV that replaces a gas guzzler prevents thousands of pounds of harmful, heat-trapping air pollution from being released into the atmosphere annually, according to government emissions data.
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There are further benefits, as tailpipe exhaust from internal combustion engine-powered cars is linked by medical experts to increased cancer risks, as well as lung, heart, and other health problems. EVs, on the other hand, don't even have a tailpipe.
While battery tech continues to improve EV performance, the rides have already crushed range fears and can charge in less than 20 minutes. The median range for model-year 2023 EVs is 270 miles, according to the U.S. Energy Department.
Fast-chargers, like Tesla's 60,000-plus global network of Superchargers, can provide most EVs with a power up worth hundreds of miles in about 15 minutes.
What's more, GM is among a group of eight automakers invested in Ionna, a company planning to add 30,000 fast-charging stalls within five years.
It all comes as battery prices are projected to fall by nearly 50% by next year, according to Goldman Sachs. The investment banking company cited better tech and lower component costs as the reasons for this reduction.
For GM's part, increased use of silicon could soon be part of its next-generation packs by 2030.
"We would certainly like to see that," Cintra told InsideEVs. "We have a lot of other technologies we're trying to implement, and silicon is one of those."
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Motor 1
an hour ago
- Motor 1
Ram Just Proved America Can't Quit the V-8
Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis said the brand "screwed up" by dropping the Hemi V-8 for the 1500 pickup, so now it's making a much-heralded return . It turns out that even as we head towards an electric—or at least an electrified future—eight cylinders, grouped in fours, and spaced 90 degrees apart, aren't going anywhere. It's not just Ram. Last week, General Motors announced an $888 million investment in its Tonawanda, New York, plant to prep for an upcoming sixth-generation small-block V-8. Mercedes is developing a new V-8 , too, which it plans to offer across its entire lineup. BMW's R&D boss recently said it's keeping V-8s for the foreseeable future , specifically because of the American and Middle East markets. Porsche has also committed to building V-8s into the 2030s. Especially here in America, we can't quit the V-8. Photo by: Ram Kuniskis's statements are illuminating. "Ram will continue to offer the more powerful and more efficient Hurricane Straight-Six Turbo, but we heard loud and clear from consumers: there is no replacement for the iconic Hemi V-8. At the end of each month, we count sales to customers, not statisticians or ideologues. Data be damned—we raise our flag and let the Hemi ring free again." It tracks with the image that marketers inside Ram and its cousin Dodge have meticulously crafted over the past few years: draped in the flag, and representing everything that is good and right about America, from apple pie to burnouts. In reality, this decision was made for the most American of reasons, the bottom line, at a time when Ram's sales have been tanking for a while now. 'We heard loud and clear from consumers: there is no replacement for the iconic Hemi V-8.' That, however, may have had less to do with the demise of the 5.7-liter Hemi for one model year and more to do with Ram prices skyrocketing for years . It is highly unclear whether the revival of the Hemi will drive prices down or boost sales even if prices stay high, but at least the narrative has shifted: the V-8 is back, as is America. The V-8 is not an exclusively American invention, but there is no engine configuration more closely linked to our car industry. Ford's flathead V-8 arrived in 1932, and after getting through some early teething troubles, it started the eight-cylinder revolution here in America . Eight-cylinder engines were once the exclusive domain of luxury and performance cars; the flathead made the V-8 almost a default engine layout here. A Ford flathead V-8 Photo by: Wikimedia Commons / Michael Barera There's a fundamental rightness that applies to the flathead, and all V-8s that followed to this day. A V-8 is no bigger in length than an inline-four, and shorter than an inline-six. With a 90-degree bank angle, a V-8 is not too much wider than most inline engines, either. But despite its compact dimensions, the V-8 is powerful, owing to its large cylinder count. And thanks to Cadillac's invention of the 180-degree, "cross-plane" crankshaft in the 1920s, the V-8 has perfectly balanced primary and secondary forces. So, compact, power dense, smooth running, and thanks to Ford's manufacturing dominance, cheap and plentiful. In America, where fuel economy and emissions only became heavily regulated and of bigger importance to consumers in the 1970s, it's no wonder that the V-8 was popular. Especially earlier, in the post-war boom time, when people had money, gas was cheap, and that brown haze hanging low over LA? Don't worry about it. The Clean Air Act and the 1973 fuel crisis definitely diminished the V-8's popularity, but it still had its place in large cars and trucks. Europe jumped on the bandwagon, too, with notable V-8s from Rover, Mercedes-Benz, and others for luxury cars, especially since the US was typically the largest export market for these cars. Japan only started making V-8s in big numbers in the 1980s and 1990s for luxury cars and trucks, though it is now retreating from this engine type; meanwhile, Korea has never been a big V-8 producer. (China skipped over this entirely to focus on groundbreaking electric power and fast-charging performance, but presumably, the minds at Stellantis have a plan to deal with this as well—we just have not seen it yet.) In the era of downsizing and electrification, a lot of automakers have tried to move away from V-8s to varying degrees, and to varying degrees of success. Ford was the first to make a big push with its EcoBoost twin-turbo V-6s, and while they've proven popular in the F-150, Ford has continued to offer a V-8 in the truck. GM brought out a 2.7-liter turbo-four as a base engine in the Silverado 1500, though its model mix leans heavily on V-8s and a diesel straight-six. Ram probably took the biggest step of all. For the 2025 1500 , it dropped the V-8 entirely in favor of a newly developed 3.0-liter twin-turbo straight-six. The "Hurricane" was (and is) offered in two power outputs as an upgrade to the base Pentastar V-6. If Kuniskis' statements are anything to go by, the I-6 didn't get the reception Ram was hoping for. Otherwise, it wouldn't have gone through the trouble of upping 5.7 V-8 production and adapting this old engine to work with the truck's new electronic architecture, which wasn't exactly the work of a moment. While the turbo inline-six is, as Ram points out, more powerful and more efficient, it's not necessarily the better truck engine. We haven't heard any horror stories about the Hurricane, but in a truck, where customers often put strain on the engine with towing and payload, they don't with regular cars, simplicity is a virtue. A turbo 'six might hit the numbers—and inherently, a turbo straight-six is a great thing, as BMW proves—but here with two turbochargers, the associated plumbing, and intercoolers, it is a more complex thing. Hell, compared to the Hemi V-8, the Hurricane I-6 has space-age complexities as multiple overhead camshafts. And while the standard-output Hurricane inline-six offers a 15-horsepower and 49-pound-feet bump over the Hemi V-8, the customer gets no great benefit in fuel economy for having two fewer cylinders. You get 21 MPG combined in the I-6 vs 20 MPG for the V-8. And somehow, their tailpipe emissions are almost identical, with 433 vs 443 grams of CO2 per mile, respectively. Photo by: Ram However, there is something very culture-war about all this. The 1500 Hemi gets a new badge with a Ram's head on the front of a V-8, which Ram calls the "Symbol of Protest Badge." A protest against… what exactly? Ram's press release leaves this to your imagination. But it's not like the current presidential administration is pushing for more fuel-efficient, lower-emission vehicles right now. In fact, it's doing very much the opposite. The Hemi may have its virtues, but its return is colored with corporate pandering to the aggrieved, which is as savvy as it is cringeworthy. Stellantis is hurting big time, and this is a very easy win for them, and a good hedge against electric pickups—which even ardent EV defenders will admit aren't fully up to the task yet . Ram has an electric pickup in the pipeline, but EV trucks from Ford and GM haven't exactly caught on. Maybe Ram's upcoming range-extender EV pickup, the Ramcharger, will do well; it seems like it could be a good mix of electrification and capability, but it's early, and the company keeps delaying the truck anyhow. Still, it's embarrassing to see a large, multinational corporation make it seem like buying an expensive V-8 pickup is an act of rebellion, of sticking it to the man. But who's the man right now? Near-powerless Democrats? California? EVs, like the ones Stellantis also makes? Joe Biden? It's a strange message from the company that also makes America's best-selling plug-in hybrid . Photo by: Ram Ram is more explicit in how it's targeting customers who respond to that message. But everyone else refocusing on V-8s knows they're appealing to those who resist change, or at least aren't so open to it. And hell, those people aren't wrong to love the V-8. It is a fundamentally excellent thing. Perhaps Ram's biggest issue is that the V-8 being revived dates back to 2003 and is not something new or innovative or groundbreaking in some way, as we'll see from those other companies. Stellantis can only fall back on its old standbys for so long. The company seems to understand this—it's why it developed the new inline-six, why it's developing electrified Ram 1500s, and why the Dodge Charger went electric. But it missed the mark. So far, these haven't been game-changing, do-everything vehicles, especially not at the high prices Stellantis charges. There's a happy middle ground. Other automakers continuing V-8 development are also heavily pushing hybrids and EVs, and BMW and GM especially are seeing big success as a result. Automakers need to walk and chew gum at the same time. If the last few years have proven anything, it's that emissions and fuel economy rules won't stay lenient forever. When that changes again, and it will, Stellantis had better get ready for what's next. More on the Hemi's Comeback The Hemi V-8 Is Back: 'We Screwed Up,' Says Ram CEO Ram's 'Symbol of Protest' Badge for Hemi V-8s Is Ridiculous and Genius Get the best news, reviews, columns, and more delivered straight to your inbox, daily. back Sign up For more information, read our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use . Share this Story Facebook X LinkedIn Flipboard Reddit WhatsApp E-Mail Got a tip for us? Email: tips@ Join the conversation ( )
Miami Herald
an hour ago
- Miami Herald
One-Off $270K Cadillac EldoRODo Lowrider Resurfaces in $55K Auction Sale
The 1999 Cadillac EldoRODo show car is unlike anything the American carmaker has ever made. The car was never designed as a concept, or a precursor of a future model, but a highly customized one-off show car commissioned by General Motors. The unique and special Caddy is a wonderful blend of luxury and street culture, and there's only one in the world. After General Motors auctioned off the car for $60,000 during GM's bankruptcy proceedings following the 2008 financial crisis, it spent years in storage, and changed hands several times including a brief stint with Tyler Hoover, host of Hoovie's Garage YouTube channel, who bought it for just $12,000 in November 2023. The market is finally realizing what a unicorn the car really is, as it recently sold at auction via Bring a Trailer for $55,000 back in April. So what makes the car so special? At a time when Cadillac was known for large luxury sedans, coupes, and SUVs, the EldoRODo was commissioned at a rumored $270,000 to show a different side of Cadillac - a tip of the hat to, and a celebration of, unique Californian car culture, specifically Southern California's custom low-rider scene. So it was fitting that all the work was done by Chuck Lombardo of the world-famous California Street Rods in Huntington Beach. Chuck sadly passed away in 2023. It was a statement, not a production car, and Cadillac said at the time that it effectively captures the spirit of the classic hot rod, while blending it with contemporary luxury and performance. From there the "ROD" in "EldoRODo", while retaining the traditional Eldorado values. Upon its completion, the car frequented the show circuit and was on display at the Los Angeles and Detroit auto shows and on many a magazine cover. The custom low-rider esthetic comes from the chopped roof line, the more steeply raked front and rear screens, and the very low ride height achieved by dropping the front suspension and fitting adjustable rear air suspension. It is further reinforced by extended rear wheel skirts and design cues that emphasize the slammed look, including slim, slit-like headlights and a narrow grille. In fact, the car sits a full four inches lower to the ground than its Eldorado Touring Coupe donor car. The striking Ignite Orange paintwork is offset by mirror-finished chrome wheels in a flat platter style with hidden, internal valves. They measure 18 inches - much larger than anything you'd find on a stock Eldorado at the time - and are wrapped in tires with such a low profile, they almost seem painted on the rims. Finishing off the esthetic is the shaved look, with all exterior trim pieces removed, rendering a pebble-smooth outer surface devoid of clutter, and even without any side mirrors. Those were replaced with discreet little side cameras. The handle-less doors are opened by remote poppers. Because this is not a concept or mockup, the EldoRODo is a fully functional and driving car, sitting on the bones of an existing mass-production model - the 12th-generation (1992-2002) Eldorado, specifically the Eldorado Touring Coupe. The Neutral Shale (beige to you and me) interior is nearly completely stock, save for carbon-fiber trim in place of the regular ETC's wood. While the air suspension is totally reworked, the platform and powertrain are the same as the production car, which is to say it shares its naturally aspirated 4.6-liter Northstar V8 engine with 300 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque. As was the custom with the Seville and Eldorado models at the time, the powerplant is installed transversely under the hood and drives the front wheels via a four-speed automatic transmission. Performance figures would have closely approximated those of the production ETC as well, which is to say a 0-60 sprint in just over seven seconds. Not that any owner will subject this one-off beauty to such harsh treatment, though, and this is borne out by the fact that the car had only 8,500 miles on the clock at the time it was sold in April. If you think $55k sounds like a bit of a bargain for a one-off unicorn like this, we remind you that you won't be able to do much with your EldoRODo, were you to own it. As part of its bankruptcy proceedings, GM sold the car off with a junk title in a legal maneuver to avoid any future liability. It will, therefore, be difficult, if not impossible, to get it road-registered, depending on where in the US you live. And those side mirror cameras will probably not be road legal either, anyway. It's unlikely that we'll see anything quite like the EldoRODo again. It was an extravagant, cost-no-object custom modification to make a statement, without previewing any new technology or upcoming Cadillac models. It was meant to show that Cadillac still had a connection with the expressive spirit of Southern Californian custom car culture. With the local automotive industry now under pressure from tariffs and the big EV push, such a pet project would be too extravagant to get past committee. It likely means there will never be anything like this chopped, slammed, and shaven Caddy again. We're just happy the nearly pristine car still exists, even if only as a reminder that Cadillac can also let its hair down once in a while. Copyright 2025 The Arena Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Analyst who nailed Tesla's collapse has a new prediction as Musk turns bearish
Analyst who nailed Tesla's collapse has a new prediction as Musk turns bearish originally appeared on TheStreet. In August 2022, crypto investor and analyst Tuur Demeester made a bold call: sell Tesla (TSLA), buy Bitcoin. At the time, it may have seemed contrarian. But five months later, the trade proved golden. 'It was indeed a good time to swap one for the other,' Demeester posted on Jan. 4, 2023. 'TSLA lost 53% against BTC in 5 months.' Now, nearly two years after his original post, Demeester is revisiting the chart. 'Is it time to get back into TSLA, with Elon being super bearish on the US dollar?' he wrote on June 5, sharing an updated long-term ratio chart between Tesla and Bitcoin. As per Kraken's price feeds, Bitcoin is up 11.6% over the past 30 days and 47.9% over the past year. The asset hit an all-time high of $111,814 on May 22, 2025, and is currently trading around $104,902 — down about 6.2% from that peak. Demeester's annotated charts show Tesla's value measured in Bitcoin — a view only seasoned crypto traders tend to track. In early 2020, TSLA began its parabolic run, outperforming Bitcoin significantly and entering what he called the 'TSLA Pump Zone.' But by mid-2022, the ratio peaked and began a sharp descent. The zone he had once dubbed 'RIP TSLA' wasn't a joke — Tesla's BTC ratio plunged from over 0.015 to just 0.003 as of June 2025. In this context, the ratio (TSLA:BTC) tells you how many Bitcoin you could buy with one share of Tesla stock. It's a way of comparing Tesla's performance directly against Bitcoin, rather than just looking at their dollar prices. If the ratio rises, Tesla is gaining value faster than Bitcoin. If it falls, Bitcoin is outperforming Tesla. His final chart, shared this week, shows the ratio bottoming out again. It's the lowest it's been since late 2019, with Tesla now worth just 0.3% of a Bitcoin per share — down over 80% from its peak in BTC terms. At the same time Demeester's chart hits rock bottom, Tesla is facing fresh macro threats. JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman believes Donald Trump's proposed 'One Big Beautiful Bill' could deal a multibillion-dollar blow to Tesla's earnings. 'The legislation would get rid of the $7,500 federal tax credit EV buyers receive, resulting in a $1.2 billion (19% of its EBIT) headwind,' Brinkman said. He also warned Tesla could lose access to California's ZEV regulatory credits — a move that could have added another $2 billion in losses last quarter. Musk, once Trump's pick to run the Department of Government Efficiency, isn't pleased either. 'It increases the budget deficit… and undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing,' he said last week. With political uncertainty, Fed rate pressure, and Musk's robotaxi gamble all in play, TSLA still faces serious headwinds. But if Bitcoin starts to cool off — or if the EV giant pulls off a surprise earnings beat — Demeester's ratio chart could signal a rare re-entry point. 'The political & operational risk is significant, of course,' he added. For now, he's just watching. But others may start charting the same flip — from BTC back to TSLA — if sentiment turns. At the time of writing, Tesla holds 11,509 BTC — worth approximately $1.2 billion. The company first bought Bitcoin in February 2021 and famously sold 75% of its holdings in July 2022. Despite that sale, Tesla remains one of the largest public corporate holders of Bitcoin today. Musk has repeatedly warned that the U.S. government is spending recklessly. With the national debt crossing $36.9 trillion, he believes the dollar is being devalued, which undermines its long-term stability. Musk slammed Trump's new 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' calling it 'a massive, outrageous, pork-filled Congressional spending bill.' He said it worsens the deficit and undoes the cost-cutting efforts he was tasked with under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Analyst who nailed Tesla's collapse has a new prediction as Musk turns bearish first appeared on TheStreet on Jun 5, 2025 This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Jun 5, 2025, where it first appeared.
