GM Charges up new Patent Application for Electric Vehicles

As Kelley Blue Book reports, General Motors (GM) has applied for a patent for an electric vehicle with two charging ports. 

GM’s new generation of electric cars, like the GMC Hummer and Cadillac Lyriq, already have two batteries wired together in a skateboard-like unit of batteries, motors, and suspension that fits beneath a car’s cabin. This patent application for an electric vehicle with two charging ports may support GM’s new generation of electric cars with two batteries, allowing drivers to charge the batteries separately with two charging ports.

While some electric vehicles use 400-volt architecture, others use 800-volt units. The 800-volt electric vehicles charge faster than electric vehicles with 400-volt architecture that are currently on the market. GM’s technology would further reduce charging times, allowing users to charge the entire battery from one 800-volt port, the entire battery from one 400-volt port, or half of it from one of each. The bi-directional flow of the ports in the new patent application also allows users to use the electric vehicle to power other electric vehicles or equipment.

While this patent application may never become a working system, it demonstrates how the electric vehicle market is evolving, with new functionalities that may also promise new prices and profitability.