GM Outlines EV Strategy to Beat Tesla at Its Own Game

It is all designed to show that, while Tesla has been out front on electric vehicles, GM has the might and volume to take over leadership, according to GM CEO Mary Barra during a day of EV immersion for automotive media and investment analysts at the Warren Technical Center outside Detroit.

Barra said GM is trying to help the investment community appreciate how aggressive GM is being. “I believe in my heart we’re doing the right thing.” She is convinced leadership is possible by bringing the power and might of GM to the problem of ensuring electric vehicles are beautiful and fun, come in all sizes, are affordable, have decent range, and are easy and quick to charge. With a full stable of vehicles. dealers will be engaged, as well.

There is a lot on tap that we know about as GM plans to have 20 new EVs for sale by 2023.

Some of it we knew was coming, like updates to the Chevrolet Bolt that has been the sole GM EV for sale in the U.S. since its introduction four years ago. But there is a second, longer, crossover version of the Bolt coming for the 2022 model year to be sold alongside the regular Bolt.

We have also been promised a Cadillac midsize crossover that we now learn goes by the name Lyriq. It is coming in early 2022 with a giant curved OLED touchscreen, and we’ll see the production model on April 2. We did not know Cadillac was working on a new full-size flagship sedan called the Celestiq; it will have a giant glass roof, four doors, and four seats, and it will be hand-built in the Detroit area within the next few years.

GM has a flexible dedicated electric vehicle architecture (BEV3), motors developed in-house, and battery modules it calls Ultium to be able to make models ranging from 250 to 1,000 horsepower. It can offer vehicles with one, two or three motors, any number of battery modules, base models and ones with off-road chops and all-wheel drive.

GM has partnered with LG Chem to make proprietary Ultium-branded battery cells for its electric vehicles; they’ll be produced at a former GM car plant in Lordstown, Ohio. GM says the pouch-style Ultium cells are unique because they can be stacked vertically or horizontally inside the battery pack and thus be tailored to each vehicle’s layout. In terms of energy, the overall battery packs range from 50 to 200 kWh, the latter of which would provide range of up to 400 miles. They’re designed for Level 2 and DC fast-charging. While most vehicles will have 400-volt battery packs and up to 250-kW fast-charging capability, the trucks will have 800-volt packs and 350 kW fast-charging. To date only Porsche’s Taycan is designed to use 800-volt packs.

The goal is to reduce the cost of the cells to less than $100 per kWh early in the platform’s lifecycle and drastically reduce the overall cost of electric vehicles. Honda is also working with GM and LG Chem to develop an advanced battery that is smaller and more power dense. The whole industry is working on a breakthrough in batteries to reduce cost while extending vehicle range.

The General has no plans to abandon profitable conventional trucks and SUVs or to neglect any of its brands. But Barra is clear: The future is electric and the majority of the company’s resources have been shifted to this work. GM will spend more on electric vehicles over the next five years than it will invest in gasoline-powered vehicles. GM is allocating more than $20 billion in capital and engineering resources to its electric- and autonomous-vehicle programs. The plan is to be selling a million EVs a year in North America and China by mid-decade.

All this while being profitable and maintaining margins. “That’s our job,” Barra says.

So far Wall Street has not shown GM much love for its EV efforts, and Tesla remains the darling. Tesla has a market-cap value more than three times that of GM despite its spotty earnings and much smaller total volumes. Even so, Tesla is the electric-vehicle sales leader, moving 367,500 EVs globally in 2019. In comparison, GM sold 16,400 Chevrolet Bolt EVs in the U.S. and another 60,000 electric vehicles in China. Electric-vehicle sales in the U.S. are forecast to more than double from 2025 to 2030, reaching about 3 million units annually.

GM is also working to make charging easier for consumers, especially at home and work. The automaker is adding 3,500 new EV charging plugs for employees in the U.S. and Canada, starting later this year. GM research shows 900,000 of an estimated 1 million total EV drivers are not able to charge their vehicles at work.