By Patti Meagher

Larry Burns (Ph.D.’78 CEE) has been pushing the green agenda for a decade in his job as GM’s vice president of research and development and strategic planning.
PHOTO COURTESY GENERAL MOTORS

On a wild roller-coaster ride with General Motors, Larry Burns (Ph.D.’78 CEE) has a lot on his mind. The 40-year GM veteran has weathered his share of challenges, including oil shortages, Japanese imports and the electric car controversy. But the current global economic crisis, he says, tops them all.

“GM has a lot of work to do to win back the confidence of taxpayers and our customers,” Burns says. “But what’s happening here is just screaming for innovation that can help turn the economy around.”

As vice president of research and development and strategic planning, Burns oversees 700 engineers working on cars that run on electricity, hydrogen fuel cells and cellulosic ethanol. As GM fights the biggest crisis in its 100-year history and remains under the intense scrutiny of President Obama’s auto task force, Burns remains remarkably upbeat and focused on his vision of a future that is both sustainable and mobile. When he starts talking about GM’s newest new idea, Project PUMA, it’s all about the technology.

“With a skateboard-like chassis, a two-seat glider-type rocking chair on the platform and dynamic balancing, the PUMA is like the Segway, but with incredible styling,” Burns says excitedly. “It has all the attributes of a car but is electric, rechargeable, zero emissions, quiet, clean, fashionable and fun.” On top of that, six of them will fit in the amount of space it now takes one car to park.

The tiny pod-like vehicle, with a top speed of 35 mph, would not win any battles on the freeway. But it’s only part of Burns’s vision—already commercialized in GM’s OnStar—of connected vehicle technology. By combining GPS and wireless with built-in electronic transponders, the PUMA could support self-driving vehicles that monitor one another, pedestrians and road conditions ahead. With smart features like these, cars could be made lighter, safer, cheaper and increasingly fuel efficient. Auto insurance might even become a thing of the past.

“We have 230 million cars in the United States, 850 million worldwide. Yet, only 13 percent of the world’s people own a vehicle,” he says. “As the middle classes start driving cars in China, India, Turkey, Poland and elsewhere, today’s cars will not be sustainable.”

General Motors recently announced its newest concept in connected vehicle technology, the PUMA, which is being developed in collaboration with Segway.
PHOTO COURTESY GENERAL MOTORS

The internal combustion engine will still play a role, Burns says, but we need a whole portfolio of designs to serve a wide range of tastes and applications. GM has two major electric propulsion lines in the works: the extended-range electric Chevrolet Volt, now scheduled for release in late 2010, and the Chevrolet Equinox Fuel Cell, currently being road-tested by 100 drivers in three U.S. cities. The more advanced Chevrolet Sequel fuel cell–electric sports utility vehicle is on a longer timetable.

The economic downturn has only intensified Burns’s commitment to the company and to reinventing auto technology and the entire automotive infrastructure. He appreciates Obama’s assessment that GM is vital for the U.S. and global economies, he says.

“We are working around the clock to make the fundamental and lasting changes necessary to reinvent GM for the long term. We have a vision for the future and we intend to realize it.”