Does General Motors have a secret long-range EV testing program in Canada?

By Nick Jaynes June 17, 2013

Chevy Spark EV on road — Image used with permission by copyright holder

Could General Motors be testing EVs with over a 300-mile charge range – in Canada? If recent reports are to be believed, GM has a fleet of secret EVs roving the Canadian countryside.

Auto Blog Green recently reported that the Windsor Star had a story detailing GM’s secret EV project up Canada-way. Auto Blog Green quoted J. Gary Smyth, General Motors’ executive director of Global Research and Development from the report as saying, “Today there are prototypes out there with 400 Watt-hours per kilogram.”

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We looked through the original story and could not find such a claim. Regardless, such a claim doesn’t seem outlandish as GM invested $7-million into a battery company called Envia.

Envia reportedly has produced batteries with a 400-Watt/kg battery. With an energy density like that, EVs could go as far as 300 miles on a single charge, which is a far cry better than the average 80 miles that today’s all-electric vehicles are capable of.

Another benefit of Envia’s new composite high-energy battery is that it’d be pretty inexpensive, costing around $20,000. This could help make long distance EV travel financially accessible to the masses.

We’re not completely sold on the idea that GM has secret long-range EVs in Canada but we’ll dig into this a bit more and see what we find.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Nick Jaynes is the Automotive Editor for Digital Trends. He developed a passion for writing about cars working his way…

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