GM Creates Trick Heating System for Its Ultium Line of EVs

Ultium energy recovery captures heat generated as an electric vehicle moves—from the motor or the battery or even from the people in the car—and uses it as a heat source elsewhere.General Motors developed the system to improve efficiency—and it does, by up to 10 percent, according to the company. GM claims the setup even contributes to the GMC Hummer EV’s hair-raising acceleration performance.

Eking out every last bit of energy from an electric vehicle’s battery pack is an important engineering task. General Motors’s latest trick to make the most of a battery-electric vehicle’s energy comes courtesy of a new kind of heat pump that recovers excess heat energy—from the battery, the powertrain, or even the people in the car—and uses it to warm the cabin and extend the vehicle’s driving range.

GM calls this new technology Ultium energy recovery, and as its name suggests, the tech applies to the company’s line of Ultium-based battery-electric vehicles. This list currently includes the GMC Hummer EV, with the Chevrolet Silverado EV and Cadillac Lyriq due soon. Other Ultium vehicles are in the works, too, including the Cadillac Celestiq sedan, and GM notes the Ultium energy recovery system will come standard on every one of its current and future Ultium-based EVs.

GMC

The heat sources the Ultium energy recovery system draws from include the battery itself, various power electronics, some propulsion components, and—most interestingly—the body heat of the people within the cabin, as well as humidity in and outside of the vehicle. The Ultium energy recovery system then uses this captured heat to warm the cabin. GM estimates this heating solution can extend the range of an EV by as much as 10 percent.

Additionally, GM claims the Ultium energy recovery system can warm the cabin of its EVs in less time than “comparable systems” of vehicles with internal combustion engines. The setup also offers potential performance enhancements. For instance, Ultium energy recovery helps cool the Hummer EV’s propulsion system when the vehicle’s placed in its Watts to Freedom mode. As such, the big pickup’s powertrain can be pushed harder without overheating, thus resulting in the Hummer EV’s 60-mph time of around three seconds.

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