IONATE, a deeptech company building the hardware-software backbone for smart power systems, today announced a collaboration with General Motors to bring its Hybrid Intelligent Transformer (HIT) technology to GM’s manufacturing plant in Romulus, Michigan. The collaboration marks IONATE’s entry into the U.S. market following successful projects across European grids and reflects a shared focus on modernizing critical electrical infrastructure for a new era of power demand.
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Matthew Williams, Founder, CEO of IONATE and Rob Threlkeld, Director – Global Energy Procurement, Reliability & Optimization at GM
IONATE’s HIT technology can sense and resolve power flow issues in real time before they affect operations or the surrounding grid. The technology will first be installed at GM’s 900,000 sq. ft. Romulus facility, which is currently scaling production of 10-speed transmissions used in GM’s full-size trucks and SUVs following a recent $300 million investment to expand capacity.
The deployment will provide GM with real-time visibility and control into power quality and consumption at sub-millisecond resolution, enhancing energy resiliency, quality and efficiency of the plant’s energy usage – while also benefitting the entire grid by identifying and preventing issues that could lead to outages before they happen.
It positions GM among the first industrial users in the U.S. to deploy this smart energy infrastructure, offering a potential model for manufacturers, data centers and grid operators facing growing pressure to modernize energy systems without waiting for broader grid upgrades.
“Deploying the Hybrid Intelligent Transformer with General Motors marks a significant step in reinforcing industrial power infrastructure with solid-state intelligence,” said Matthew Williams, founder and CEO of IONATE. He continued: “GM’s manufacturing operations demand the highest standards of reliability, efficiency, and power quality – and that is what we build for. We are thrilled to launch IONATE’s technology in the U.S. with such a titan of American industry.”
Electrical infrastructure remains one of the most important foundations of the modern economy, despite its core building blocks having changed little in more than a century. Industrial electrification, generation expansion and the rapid growth of AI-driven power demand are placing new strains on systems that were not designed for today’s scale, complexity or speed of change. As a result, utilities, manufacturers and other large energy users are increasingly focused on how to modernize existing infrastructure, improve resilience and prepare networks for future demand.
IONATE’s HIT technology addresses this challenge by modernizing one of the grid’s most critical infrastructure assets. Delivered in the form of a transformer, HIT upgrades the capabilities of the underlying electrical infrastructure itself. Positioned at the critical connection point between the grid and on-site energy use, HIT provides real-time visibility into power conditions while also detecting, analyzing and resolving power disturbances in real time, all while operating at greater than 99% efficiency.
The system integrates into existing substations and facilities, reducing the need for downtime, costly infrastructure overhauls and supply chain disruptions. By improving how power is managed and utilized across existing infrastructure, the technology helps prepare networks for emerging sources of demand while supporting more efficient and resilient grid operations. In average deployment scenarios, grids using IONATE’s technology can accommodate 33% more distributed energy resources, carry 25% more power without upgrading poles and wires, and reduce wasted power by 6%.
“Maximizing efficiency and resiliency is crucial in GM’s manufacturing system, and it’s why we’re implementing innovative technology to enhance our energy management and the overall grid,” said Luis Cervantes, executive director of manufacturing excellence.
Engineering teams from both IONATE and GM have worked closely together to bring the technology to GM’s facility, with US-standard 3MVA IEEE units currently finalizing build and test ahead of the rollout. The companies will collaborate on the initial deployment in the Romulus plant, and potentially others across GM’s manufacturing system.
Beyond the individual deployment, each HIT also functions as a real-time control node coordinated through IONATE’s Aurora software platform, allowing individual deployments to contribute to broader improvements in grid capacity and resilience as networks scale. This creates benefits not only for the site where the technology is installed, but also for the wider power system by helping large energy users operate as better grid citizens while preparing infrastructure for future demand growth.
Learn more about IONATE’s technology at: ionate.energy.
ABOUT IONATE
IONATE is building the hardware-software backbone for smart grids. Its proprietary Hybrid Intelligent Transformer (HIT) replaces transformers with a smart equivalent, integrating high-fidelity data and precise control of voltages, harmonics and reactive power all-in-one. This makes the HIT a Swiss Army knife for stabilizing power flows across grids, power generation, industrial assets and data centers, while also lighting up real-time control nodes. Coordinated by IONATE’s AI-enabled software, they turn the passive, old grid into the smart decentralized energy platform we need for the 21st century.
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