Corvette, Camaro and Silverado - the flagships of the celebrated V8 engines (photo: manufacturer's website)
In Europe the V8 engines, which until recently were a symbol of performance and luxury vehicles, are becoming extinct due to pollution regulations.
Even in the US, at the beginning of this month, General Motors unveiled a new hybrid version of the Chevrolet Corvette, whose 8-cylinder engine is one of its trademarks.
Because with all due respect to electricity, when you say American car, you say V8, and if it's a V8, there aren't many manufacturers where it fits better than General Motors This configuration has accompanied Chevrolet since 1917 (with the D Series) and remained in more or less the same configuration until 1954, when it was retired when it was replaced by the V8 small block engine series that powered and continues to power some of the manufacturer's most iconic cars .
And GM still believes in the V8 engines and is now investing no less than 918 million dollars in 4 production plants for these engines.
Of the four, the one in Flint, Michigan will make the next generation of V8 engines for the manufacturer's pickup trucks and SUVs, the other three plants will make components for V8 engines along with parts for GM's electric cars.
We believe in V8 - the new generation of GM small-block engines (photo: manufacturer's website)
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the new engine generation, the sixth in number of the company's V8 small-block family, as mentioned, it is intended for the next generation of vans and off-road vehicles of the manufacturer.
And although it seems that the world has stopped believing in these big gasoline engines, for the American manufacturer, what seems like going in the wrong direction, is a very simple economic matter.
With all due respect to the electric cars, those who serve as the manufacturer's bigger cash machine are the same pickup trucks and off-road vehicles that Americans continue to rave about much more than the electric cars.
To this must be added the fact that the voltage of profits on electric cars is lower than that of gasoline cars.
Regarding the new generation of these engines, this is the result of increasingly strict requirements for compliance with new air pollution standards in the United States starting in 2024.
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The small-block, with Chevrolet since 1955, now in the sixth generation (photo: manufacturer website)
Despite previous statements by GM regarding the transition to the production of only electric passenger cars by 2035, it should be remembered that in the United States there is a very clear historical division between "passenger cars", pickup trucks - "PICK UP" and off-road vehicles - "SUV".
So the transition of passenger cars to electric drive really does not mean that the thunder of the eight pistons will not be heard on the roads.
Beyond that, we are talking about 12 years ahead, 12 years of sales of millions of vehicles with a V8 engine.
"We know it's on the horizon," said Gerald Johnson, head of GM's production department when referring to the issue of investment in factories, "but between us there are a lot of internal combustion engine customers that we don't want to lose."
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