GM

US car maker General Motors has been working on a battery it claims will last for 1 million miles (1.61 million kilometres) of electric car driving – and the technology is “almost there”, according to the company’s executive vice president. Speaking during an online investor conference earlier in the week, GM’s Doug Parks said the brand was focusing “multiple teams” on the development of its next-generation battery technology, according to news outlet Reuters.

Car companies across North America – including the Detroit 'Big Three' – are going above and beyond to assist health authorities battle the coronavirus US car giant General Motors is about to make its first significant shipment of ventilators after transforming one of its manufacturing facilities, while Ford is making hospital gowns out of airbag material, and FCA (Chrysler, Jeep, Ram, Dodge) is urging its customers to "#StayOffTheRoad".

Car companies in the US and UK are offering up their manufacturing plants for the production of ventilators, in a bid to assist with growing shortages imposed by the coronavirus crisis. The movement started when UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson called on local manufacturers to mobilise in order to increase output of the units, which are an essential for critical coronavirus patients who require breathing assistance.

Cruise, the self-driving car firm owned by General Motors, will reportedly unveil its new dedicated autonomous vehicle by the end of the day. Sources within the company told Bloomberg Cruise will unveil the vehicle at an event in San Francisco. A spokesperson for the firm stated the vehicle at the event "is definitely not a car", but refused to elaborate any further.

GM has confirmed what we’d already been expecting: the 40-day United Auto Workers strike has indeed delayed the start of production for the new Chevrolet C8 Corvette. Motor Authority reports production will start in February 2020 at GM’s Bowling Green Assembly instead of this December. According to the Chevrolet website, the first deliveries to customers will take place in “early 2020”.