GM starts harvesting tech from startups

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- General Motors is starting to harvest technology from the 20-plus startup companies in which it has invested.

GM global purchasing chief Steve Kiefer said the automaker is starting to install gadgets and technology that were bankrolled by GM Ventures, its venture capital unit. Launched in 2010, GM Ventures is scouting startups with technology related to infotainment, vehicle electrification, fuel economy, advanced materials and autonomous driving.

A few examples:

•  New software from Tula Technology Inc. will improve the efficiency of cylinder deactivation. Current technology employs a fixed pattern of deactivation -- say, half the cylinders of a V-8 engine. Tula's software, dubbed Dynamic Skip Fire, allows the engine control unit to adjust each cylinder's individual firing pattern continuously. 
•  Several CUE-equipped Cad-illac models feature a wireless phone charger designed by Powermat Technologies Ltd. The motorist places the smartphone on a rubberized pad, and an electromagnetic field recharges the battery.

No need for a wire connection. CUE is a smartphone-like navigation screen that lets the driver control various infotainment features. 

During an Aug. 6 presentation at the Center for Automotive Research's Management Briefing Seminars here, Kiefer said GM Ventures is gaining momentum. 

"Two or three technologies have started to bear fruit," he said. "We are fast-tracking innovation into our vehicles." 

Kiefer says GM is taking other steps to speed the introduction of technology. 

Previously, suppliers were irked by the automaker's terms-and-conditions contract, which allowed GM to dictate how it would make use of a supplier's intellectual property.

Now "we are getting much more flexible on intellectual property sharing and how we are sharing the risks and rewards" of new technologies, Kiefer said. 

And for some of the most costly technologies, GM is sharing development costs with other automakers. 

For example, GM teamed with Ford to design a new 10-speed transmission for rear-wheel-drive vehicles. And it is working with Honda to develop a fuel cell that should be ready for a production decision by 2020. 

That sort of collaboration permits economies of scale -- a critical factor for fuel cells, which if produced would be built in small numbers. 

"We're trying to be the automaker of choice for suppliers," Kiefer said. 

"We want you to bring your technology to General Motors first."