{"id":207707,"date":"2021-08-24T12:47:51","date_gmt":"2021-08-24T16:47:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thedetroitbureau.com\/?p=207707"},"modified":"2021-08-24T12:47:52","modified_gmt":"2021-08-24T16:47:52","slug":"cadillac-gets-into-electrified-racing-with-exotic-lmdh-hybrid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/2021\/08\/cadillac-gets-into-electrified-racing-with-exotic-lmdh-hybrid\/","title":{"rendered":"Cadillac Gets into Electrified Racing with Exotic LMDh Hybrid"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

For a company that says it\u2019s on a \u201cpath to an all-electric future,\u201d it would seem obvious that General Motors might want to prove itself on the track and, it seems, that\u2019s precisely what it has in mind with the exotic-looking LMDh race car it revealed today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"2023
Cadillac’s first-ever fully electric vehicle, the Lyriq, debuts little changed from the concept shown last summer.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Developed in partnership with longtime motorsports affiliates<\/a><\/strong>, Chip Ganassi Racing and Action Express Racing, the Cadillac LMDh will make its track debut during the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona in January 2023 \u2014 and the \u201cobjective,\u201d GM said in a statement, is to make a run at Le Mans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFinally! We can show and tell,\u201d said GM President Mark Reuss, after the Detroit automaker had been dropping hints that something big was in the works in the last few months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Actually, there isn\u2019t a lot of either \u201cshow\u201d or \u201ctell.\u201d For now, only this single, rear three-quarter image of the Cadillac LMDh prototype has been released. And GM isn\u2019t saying very much about what will power the race car, its statement noting that, \u201cA new GM developed engine will integrate with the LMDh common hybrid system.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A transition in the making<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLike motorsport, Cadillac is making the transition into a future driven by alternative propulsion,\u201d said Rory Harvey, Cadillac Global vice president. \u201cThe hybrid nature of the LMDh rules will help us to bridge our technology transfer to our all-electric future. We are excited to carry forward our success and continue to transfer our learnings and technology from the track to our production vehicles.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Extreme
A rendering reveals the look of the Hummer racer planned for the inaugural Extreme E season, which was also done in partnership with Chip Ganassi Racing.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

GM certainly hopes that the age-old adage, \u201cWin on Sunday, Sell on Monday,\u201d carries over into the new era of electrification. True, there\u2019s no attempt to make the LMDh look like a production vehicle. And it will use a hybrid drivetrain, rather than going all-electric, the direction that Cadillac \u2014 and the rest of GM will be taking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But electrified racing, whether in the young Formula-E series<\/a><\/strong> or the two series where the LMDh will compete \u2014 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the WEC Championship \u2014 can help demonstrate the potential of battery propulsion. Electric motors deliver maximum torque the moment they start spinning. That means incredible boosts to performance when coming out of corners, for one thing. And, with a hybrid, there\u2019s none of the challenges posed by limited range and long charging times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A “great” partnership<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are looking forward to the new international prototype formula and running the Cadillac LMDh,\u201d said Chip Ganassi. \u201cWe have had a great relationship across three different racing disciplines with GM and we are looking forward to developing the car with Cadillac and Dallara over the next year-and-a-half.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cadillac
GM’s Crystal Windham talks about Cadillac’s latest product, the Celestiq, during CES 2021.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Dallara is one of four suppliers licensed to build a chassis for LMDh race cars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Four other manufacturers have so far committed to building hybrids meeting the new LMDh rules, including Porsche, Audi, Acura and BMW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Peugeot, Toyota, Ferrari and Glickenhaus have plans to compete alongside Cadillac under the new Le Mans Hypercar regulations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Timing is everything<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The decision to launch at Daytona in January 2023 means the Caddy will be set to run the full IMSA season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It also will come at a time when GM rapidly accelerates its roll out of long-range battery-electric vehicles. The automaker has the GMC Hummer EV pickup coming late this year, the Cadillac Lyriq following early in 2022<\/a><\/strong>. Caddy so far has confirmed as many as four BEVs, including an alternative to the familiar Escalade flagship, as well as the ultra-exotic Celestiq<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As it shifts to an all-electric future, GM intends to prove itself out on the track. Cadillac will debut its exotic LMDh Hybrid race car at the 24 Hours at Daytona in January 2023. TheDetroitBureau.com has more.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":207711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[969,7,8,10],"tags":[2322,2321,390,2323,2324],"make":[],"post-state":[],"category_old":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207707"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=207707"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207707\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207714,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/207707\/revisions\/207714"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/207711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=207707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=207707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=207707"},{"taxonomy":"make","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/make?post=207707"},{"taxonomy":"post-state","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post-state?post=207707"},{"taxonomy":"category_old","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thedetroitbureau.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/category_old?post=207707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}