Kettering Repurposes Flint's 'Chevy in the Hole' for Autonomous Driving R&D Center

Ronnie Schreiber
by Ronnie Schreiber

The former General Motors site along the Flint River was officially known as Chevrolet Flint Manufacturing, but many of the folks who worked there and Flint locals called it “ Chevy in the Hole” — likely a reference to its location in the river valley. It was once GM’s most profitable operation, producing millions of Chevys, engines, AC spark plugs and other components that went into those Chevrolets and other GM vehicles. It’s also where the United Auto Workers made history with its massive sit-down strike in 1936-37.

Starting with an engine plant in 1913, GM grew and so did the complex, adding an assembly plant and then a Fisher Body factory in the early years. Eventually the complex’s scores of buildings took up 130 acres. As the American auto industry started its decline in the 1980s, though, and over the next two decades, the massive complex was shut down and taken apart in piecemeal fashion, just as it had been assembled.

Today, only two buildings remain. One is still a GM tool and die shop and the other was donated to Kettering University (formerly the General Motors Institute, GM’s private engineering and business management college). Kettering houses its mechanical engineering and chemistry departments there.

The rest of Chevy in the Hole became a blighted symbol of the Rust Belt. Last year, however, redevelopment of about half of the site into an urban park called Chevy Commons began. Plans include wetlands, woodlands, grasslands and other green areas.

A few weeks ago, Kettering University debuted phase one in a project that’ll turn another 21 acres of Chevy in the Hole into a facility for the research and development of autonomous vehicles. Named the GM Mobility Research Center, the first phase of the project, a 3.25 acre skid pad and outdoor laboratory space, was funded with a $2 million grant from the automaker. The test pad was built to racing industry specifications and includes stadium lighting for nighttime testing. The site is also linked to Kettering’s private high-speed 4G LTE network, allowing for the testing of vehicle to vehicle and other telematic technologies.

Phase two of the facility, scheduled to start construction early next year, will add a low-speed road course and a building that includes indoor labs, conference rooms, and a garage with automotive bays and lifts. A $1.9 million grant from the United States Economic Development Administration to Kettering will pay for that phase of the project.

Like the University of Michigan’s MCity autonomous driving facility in Ann Arbor, Kettering’s mobility research center will be made available for the use of automakers, vendors, and the school’s faculty and students.

Among the dignitaries at the ribbon cutting ceremony was Michigan’s lieutenant governor Brian Calley. The state of Michigan has worked hard to stay in a leadership role in the auto industry as it embraces driverless vehicles. In addition to the two university-based autonomous driving R&D facilities, there is also the state sponsored American Center for Mobility at Willow Run near Ypsilanti.

As with the GM Mobility Research Center and Chevy in the Hole, the American Center for Mobility is a so-called brownfield redevelopment. The 335-acre Willow Run facility was originally built by Ford to manufacture B-24 Liberator bombers during World War II. Later, General Motors built Corvairs and Hydramatic transmissions there.

While the Ypsilanti and Flint research facilities will only employ a tiny fraction of people who worked on those sites when they were factories, they do address urgent needs of the state and its residents. Former heavy industrial sites are often contaminated with chemicals and metals and thus reduce the options of possible redevelopment uses. Autonomous R&D centers can put those sites to good use, removing blights from the landscape while providing resources that will allow the state’s leading industry to thrive as it changes in the 21st century.

[Images: Genesee Valley Historical Society, Kettering University, chevyinthehole.blogspot.com]

Ronnie Schreiber
Ronnie Schreiber

Ronnie Schreiber edits Cars In Depth, the original 3D car site.

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  • Dukeisduke Dukeisduke on Nov 04, 2016

    As for Willow Run, I used to think that Corvairs were built in the former B-24 plant, but that's not the case. Actually, the bomber plant became a Hydramatic transmission plant, after the 1953 fire that destroyed the Detroit Transmission plant in Livonia. Its first automotive use after building B-24s was building Kaisers and Frazers. Corvairs (and Novas for a while) were built at Willow Run Assembly, a separate facility south of the bomber plant. I'm a former Corvair owner, and still a member of the local club. For awhile we had a member who worked at Willow Run Assembly, and built Corvairs. He gave a presentation one month during the program part of the meeting, with his reminiscences of building Corvairs.

    • Ronnie Schreiber Ronnie Schreiber on Nov 04, 2016

      Before it split off Visteon, Ford operated a parts plant on the southwestern corner of the Willow Run complex. The building is still there but it's mostly empty.

  • Redapple Redapple on Nov 06, 2016

    They ve been talking about this for a while. Kettering/GMI= the #1 IE program in the world year after year for decades.

  • Theflyersfan After the first hard frost or freeze - if the 10 day forecast looks like winter is coming - that's when the winter tires go on. You can call me a convert to the summer performance tire and winter tire car owner. I like the feel of the tires that are meant to be used in that season, and winter tires make all of the difference in snowy conditions. Plus, how many crazy expensive Porsches and Land Rovers do we see crashed out after the first snow because there's a chance that the owner still kept their summer tires on. "But...but...but I have all wheel drive!!!" Yes, so all four tires that now have zero grip can move in unison together.
  • Theflyersfan One thing the human brain can do very well (at least hopefully in most drivers) is quickly react to sudden changes in situations around them. Our eyes and brains can quickly detect another driving dangerously, a construction zone that popped up while we were at work, dense fog out of nowhere, conflicting lines and signs on some highways, kids darting out between cars, etc. All of this self driving tech has shown us that it is maybe 80% of the way there, but it's that last 20% that still scares the crap out of us. Self driving computers can have multiple cameras feeding the system constant information, but can it react in time or can it work through conflicting data - think of construction zones with lines everywhere, orange signs with new exit information by the existing green exit sign, etc. Plus, and I think it's just GM's test mules, some systems require preexisting "knowledge" of the routes taken and that's putting a lot of faith in a system that needs to be updated in real time. I think in the next 15-20 years, we'll have a basic system that can self drive along interstates and highways, but city streets and neighborhoods - the "last mile" - will still be self drive. Right now, I'd be happy with a system that can safely navigate the slog of rush hour and not require human input (tapping the wheel for example) to keep the system active.
  • Kcflyer night and day difference. Good winter tires save lives or at least body work. And they are free. Spend a few hundred on spare wheels on tire rack. Mount the winter tires on them. They replace your regular tires and save a commensurate amount of wear. Thus, over the life of the vehicle the only added expense is the extra wheels. I can usually find a set of used wheels for less than 400 bucks all in on craigslist or marketplace. Then swap the wheels yourself twice a year. TPMS has added a wrinkle. Honda has the best system that requires little or no expense. Toyota/Lexus has a stupid system that requires a shop visit to program every stinking time. Ugh (worth it over a honda since your valves don't need to be cleaned every 60000 miles)
  • Bruce Purchased (in 2024) a 1989 Camero RS. I wasn't looking for one but I picked it up for 1500. I wanted to only pay 800 but the fellow I bought it from had a real nice family and I could tell they loved each other. They needed the money and I had to give it to him. I felt my heart grow like the Grinch. Yes it has the little 2.8. But the write up does not represent this car. It has never been messed with, all original, a real time machine. I was very fond of these 3rd gen Cameros. It was very oxidized but straight, interior was dirty but all there. I just retired and I parked in my shop and looked at it for 5 months. I couldn't decide how to approach it now That I can afford to make of it what ever I want. Resto mod? Engine swap? No reason to expect any finacial return. Finally I started just doing little things. Buffed and polished the paint. Tune up, Fluids. I am still working it and have found a lot of joy in just restoring what I have just the way I found it just fixed and cleaned up. It's just a cool looking cruiser, fun to drive, fun to figure out. It is what it is. I am keeping it and the author of this critical write up completely misses the point. Mabey the point is what I make it. Nothing more and nothing less.
  • George Now that the Spark And Pretty Soon Gone is the Mirage I really wonder how are you going to get A low rental price when getting a loaner car for the week or more? Cars that are big as spark usually cost 5 to 10 dollars a day for use in a week rental agreement.Where as a SUV like a Equinox or a Rogue Midsize SUV would cost about 20 to 30 dollars for the same length of time of lease and since you’re getting more space leasing is going to be very expensive.
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