TL;DR
Get business pricing on garage and car supplies
- Business-only prices and quantity discounts
- Tax-exempt purchasing
- Multiple users, one account, clear invoices
GM product chief Jaclyn McQuaid described a roadmap spanning gas-powered trucks, electric vehicles and automated driving in an interview with The Drive. The plans include a central-compute electrical architecture expected in a 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ, an eyes-off highway-driving system, an OnStar app redesign in 2027 and LMR batteries for future EVs. Some timing and performance claims come from GM; the report does not specify prices or a complete rollout schedule.
General Motors is developing gas-powered vehicles, EVs and automated-driving technology in parallel, vehicle-products chief Jaclyn McQuaid told The Drive in a recent interview, outlining a roadmap that includes a new electrical architecture, an OnStar redesign and future battery chemistry. The plans matter because GM is seeking to apply technology across its vehicle lineup rather than treat electric and combustion models as separate development tracks.
McQuaid, GM’s senior vice president of vehicle products, discussed the roadmap on The Drivecast. The reported plans include a centralized electrical architecture for next-generation electric and gas-powered vehicles. The Drive said GM expects that clean-sheet architecture to arrive in the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ, with a central computing unit at its core.
The architecture is planned to support a new hands-free, eyes-off driving system. The initial operating area is expected to be highways, with GM intending to expand the system to additional roads later. The report says the technology is also expected to reach GM’s gas-powered light-duty trucks. The longer-term ambition, as described in the source report, is for a truck to handle errands without a driver aboard; that is a goal, not a confirmed capability or launch commitment.
GM also plans to combine its owner-facing brand apps into a new OnStar smartphone app in 2027, while recasting OnStar as a personal AI assistant. The company is separately developing next-generation EVs using lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries. The report describes them as less expensive than current nickel manganese cobalt batteries and more energy-dense than lithium iron phosphate batteries, but does not provide test results, costs or vehicle range figures.
One Roadmap Across GM Vehicles
The strategy could affect how quickly GM updates vehicles and how technology is shared between combustion models and EVs. A common electrical and computing foundation may let the company develop software features and vehicle systems across more than one type of powertrain. That is a potential benefit of the approach, not evidence that development costs or timelines have already fallen.
GM executives say AI will help cut vehicle development time in half and streamline manufacturing. Those are company projections; the interview material does not establish a measured result, explain the baseline, or specify when such a reduction would be achieved. For buyers, the practical effects will depend on the eventual vehicle features, availability, pricing and performance.
The driving system’s planned expansion from highways to other roads also has safety implications. The distinction between hands-free driving and fully driverless operation matters: the source describes an initial highway system and a longer-term ambition for vehicles to run errands, but does not establish that the latter has been developed or approved.
hands-free highway driving system for cars
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
McQuaid’s Product Role at GM
McQuaid’s remit is GM’s overall vehicle-product portfolio. In the interview, she described a career spanning engineering roles in areas including brakes, seats and exhaust, followed by leadership of heavy-duty and other truck programs. She also held senior roles overseeing General Motors Europe and the Buick and GMC businesses before taking charge of vehicle products.
That experience provides context for her comments on a portfolio that includes trucks, SUVs, performance cars and EVs. The interview is a discussion of GM’s direction and plans, not a formal product-by-product launch announcement. The available report identifies the Escalade IQ as the first stated application for the new architecture and gives 2027 as the planned timing for the unified owner app.
“I’m a truck girl at heart.”
— Jaclyn McQuaid, GM senior vice president of vehicle products, in The Drivecast interview
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Timelines and Capabilities Still Open
The source report does not give prices, vehicle-by-vehicle launch dates or a full schedule for extending the new architecture beyond the 2028 Escalade IQ. It also does not identify the roads, geographic markets or operating conditions that will be included when the eyes-off system first becomes available.
GM’s AI development-time estimate and the stated battery cost and energy-density comparisons are not accompanied in the report by methodology, independent testing or detailed figures. It is also unclear how the planned OnStar assistant will work, what tasks it will perform, or how owners’ existing brand-app features will be handled after the planned 2027 consolidation. The future goal of a truck running errands without its owner remains distinct from the described initial highway system.
lithium manganese-rich EV batteries
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Watch for Vehicle-Level Details
The next stated milestones are the unified OnStar app planned for 2027 and the central-compute architecture’s expected arrival in the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ. GM has not supplied, in the source material, a detailed public timetable for the eyes-off system’s expansion to other roads or its rollout across gas-powered trucks.
Further announcements will be needed to clarify which models receive the architecture and LMR batteries, what the driving system can do under specific conditions, and whether GM’s AI-related development targets translate into measurable changes. Until those details are released, the interview outlines a direction for the company rather than a complete schedule of production launches.
centralized vehicle electrical architecture 2028
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
Key Questions
What is GM planning for its vehicle technology?
GM outlined plans for a shared electrical architecture, AI-assisted development, a redesigned OnStar experience, future LMR-battery EVs and an eyes-off driving system. The plans span gas-powered vehicles and EVs.
When is the new OnStar app expected?
The Drive report says GM plans to combine its brand smartphone apps into a new OnStar app in 2027. Details about features and how the change will affect current app services were not provided.
Which vehicle is expected to get the new electrical architecture first?
The report identifies the 2028 Cadillac Escalade IQ as the expected first vehicle with GM’s clean-sheet, central-compute electrical architecture.
Will GM’s eyes-off system let vehicles drive anywhere without a driver?
No such capability is confirmed in the source material. The planned system is expected to start with highway driving and expand later. A truck running errands without its owner is described as a longer-term goal, not an available or approved feature.
What is known about GM’s future LMR batteries?
The report says GM plans to use lithium manganese-rich batteries in next-generation EVs and characterizes them as less expensive than NMC batteries and more energy-dense than LFP batteries. It gives no cost, range or independent test data.
Source: rss
Halloween Picks
halloween
As an affiliate, we earn on qualifying purchases.
