The GM BT1 platform, marketed under

Ultium Ultium is an electric vehicle battery and Electric motor, motor architecture developed by General Motors. It is being deployed for battery electric vehicles from General Motors portfolio brands along with vehicles from Honda and Acura. Ultium ...

branding, is a dedicated

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a motor vehicle whose propulsion is powered fully or mostly by electricity. EVs encompass a wide range of transportation modes, including road vehicle, road and rail vehicles, electric boats and Submersible, submer ...

architecture or

platform Platform may refer to: Arts * Platform, an arts centre at The Bridge, Easterhouse, Glasgow * ''Platform'' (1993 film), a 1993 Bollywood action film * ''Platform'' (2000 film), a 2000 film by Jia Zhangke * '' The Platform'' (2019 film) * Pla ...

developed by

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

(GM). It underpins electric full-size

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...

s and

SUV A sport utility vehicle (SUV) is a car classification that combines elements of road-going passenger cars with features from off-road vehicles, such as raised ground clearance and four-wheel drive. There is no commonly agreed-upon definition ...

s sold by GM, using battery and motor technology developed under its

program; these are shared with third-generation GM electric vehicles on the BEV3 platform. BT1 is categorized as a skateboard platform.

History

In October 2019, GM made an agreement with the

United Auto Workers The United Auto Workers (UAW), fully named International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) and sou ...

(UAW) union to invest US$3 billion in

Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly Detroit/Hamtramck Assembly, also referred to as Factory Zero (and historically as GM Poletown), is an automotive assembly plant located on the border between Detroit and Hamtramck, Michigan, United States, owned and operated by General Motors. I ...

over the next four years, renaming it to "Factory Zero" and converting it to a factory for electric trucks and vans. The UAW's copy of the agreement revealed the "centerpiece" of the investment was a program internally called "Project O" or BT1, which would develop and begin selling a low-volume pickup truck by 2021, aimed at the high end of the market. The same platform developed for that project, which resulted in the

GMC Hummer EV The GMC Hummer EV (badged as HEV) is a line of battery electric heavy-duty vehicles produced by General Motors since 2021, and sold under the GMC marque. The Hummer EV is offered in two variants: a pickup truck and a sport utility vehicle (S ...

, also would be used for electric versions of full-size General Motors pickup trucks (

Chevrolet Silverado The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long-running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from the to ...

GMC Sierra The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long-running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from the t ...

) and SUVs (

Chevrolet Tahoe The Chevrolet Tahoe (), and its Rebadging, badge-engineered GMC Yukon counterpart, are full-size SUVs and other trucks from General Motors, offered since 1994 and 1991, respectively. Since 1982, Chevrolet and GMC (General Motors division), GMC ...

Suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

GMC Yukon GMC may refer to: Government India * Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation, in Gujarat * Gobichettipalayam Municipal Corporation, in Tamil Nadu * Guntur Municipal Corporation, in Andhra Pradesh * Guwahati Municipal Corporation, in Assam * Gwalior ...

, and

Cadillac Escalade The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV manufactured by General Motors and marketed by their luxury division Cadillac. It was the luxury brand's first major entry into the SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year ...

Design

The BT1 platform is designed for full-size trucks and SUVs which currently use a

body-on-frame Body-on-frame is a traditional motor vehicle construction method whereby a separate coachwork, body or coach is mounted on a strong and relatively rigid vehicle frame or chassis that carries the powertrain (the engine and drivetrain) and to wh ...

architecture, while

unibody A vehicle frame, also historically known as its ''chassis'', is the main supporting structure of a motor vehicle to which all other components are attached, comparable to the skeleton of an organism. Until the 1930s, virtually every car had ...

passenger cars and crossover utility vehicles will be based on BEV3; both platforms use Ultium batteries and motors. However, Nichole Kraatz, the GM chief engineer for battery electric trucks, characterized BT1 as "not a unibody and ... not a body-on-frame", as the body has an integral floor, like a unibody, but rests on the battery structure, which also acts as a structural member. This confirmed early speculation published in 2019. Despite its name suggesting a relation to the T1 platform, BT1 shares no parts with the older internal combustion engine full-size pickup truck and SUV platform. As implemented for the GMC Hummer EV, BT1 has a stamped and welded steel battery case with 24 modules, totaling 246 kW-hr gross, of which 212 kW-hr are usable; the total weight of the battery alone is .

Applications

Current models

(2021–present) * Chevrolet Silverado EV / GMC Sierra EV (2023–present) *

Cadillac Escalade IQ The Cadillac Escalade is a full-size luxury SUV manufactured by General Motors and marketed by their luxury division Cadillac. It was the luxury brand's first major entry into the SUV market. The Escalade was introduced for the 1999 model year ...

(2024–present) File:GMC Hummer EV.jpg, GMC Hummer EV (SUT) File:2024 GMC Hummer EV VUS au SIAM 2023.JPG, GMC Hummer EV (SUV) File:2024 Chevrolet Silverado EV 4WT AWD in Summit White, front left, 2024-06-30.jpg, Chevrolet Silverado EV File:Cadillac Escalade IQ 001.jpg, Cadillac Escalade IQ

Future models

* Chevrolet Tahoe EV / GMC Yukon EV (2026) * Chevrolet Suburban EV / GMC Yukon XL EV (2026)

References