After Patenting a Motorcycle, GM Supposedly Has a UTV In the Works

I gotta ask, what the hell is going on at General Motors (GM) right now? Did they find John DeLorean's hidden stash of cocaine? Are they going through a mid-life crisis? Are they bored with making 1,000 horsepower Corvettes? It may sound odd that RideApart is covering the brand best known for its trucks and the aforementioned Corvette, and it is. But over the last week, not only have we been made aware of an electric motorcycle the brand's patented, but now it's supposedly working on a UTV, too. 

The realization comes from UTV Driver, which discovered the patent earlier this week, and shows something that couldn't be anything else but a side-by-side. And the design language feels both futuristic and very much in the same go-fast vein as Polaris, Can-Am, Kawasaki, and Honda's offerings.

I mean, just look at the patent drawings and try to say it's anything but that. And, like the motorcycle patent, it looks to be electric. Well, apart from what appears to be an exhaust port on the back, though my eyes could be deceiving me on that particular portion. 

Photos by: USPTO

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So the patent itself says it's for a "Vehicle, Toy Replica, And/or Other Replica," which usually means that the company in question, in this case General Motors, is covering its bases when it comes to the design. Think about how many Corvette and Silverado toys you've seen from Hot Wheels and Matchbox. Few other details are released through the patent filing, other than the pictures seen here.

They're based on real vehicles, but GM retains the licensing of their likeness. 

There's no mention of a drivetrain, no mention of suspension (those pieces are deliberately left out, though GM has a partnership with Multimatic), and nothing about the interior of the UTV. Nor are there any specifics about the tires, which are left out, too. The design, however, is very futuristic in its concept, resembling something more akin to a vehicle we'd see in Blade Runner 2049 than at Glamis today. That's likely on purpose, too, as the principal name on the patent is Logan Phillips who, while no longer working for General Motors, is an industrial designer who's worked at Tesla, Fiat Chrysler, and now works at SpaceX. 

What I will state about this patent is that it was filed two years ago, and we've seen nothing from the brand that even resembles this patent since. It, however, had a partnership with Volcon up until that project was shelved. Yet, nothing since then has come up. So whether we'll ever see this patent take shape in reality remains to be seen. 

That said, I sorta want to see a GM-produced side-by-side but with that flat-plane V8 out of the Z06 Corvette. Imagine the noises!

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