GM CEO and chairman Mary Barra speaks during the company’s “EV Day” on March 4, 2020 at the company’s tech and design campus in a Warren, Mich., a suburb of Detroit
GM
DETROIT – General Motors will spend more than $20 billion through 2025 on its next-generation of all-electric and autonomous vehicles as it aims to gain a foothold in a fast-growing market for new auto technologies.
The investment is GM’s hardest push yet to convince skeptics, particularly on Wall Street, that the more than 110-year-old automaker can compete against Tesla as the auto industry pivots to all-electric vehicles. GM showed and discussed 11 new all-electric vehicles Wednesday as part of its plans through 2025, including at least 20 new models by 2023. CNBC first reported GM would unveil the products at its “EV Day.”
The company declined to break down how much of the $20 billion would go specifically to all-electric vehicles but said that the amount includes capital and engineering resources.
“This is a huge opportunity for us. The biggest opportunity any of us has ever seen for this company, certainly,” GM President Mark Reuss said. “And we are all-in. It represents a chance to reinvent the company and reset our brands. It will change this company and people’s perception of it forever.”
In January, GM previewed a crossover that is expected to be Cadillac’s first all-electric vehicle on the company’ next-generation all-electric vehicle architecture.
GM
GM said that its new all-electric vehicles will be capable of 400 miles or more, charge more than 100 miles in 10 minutes and accelerate zero to 60 miles per hour in as low as three seconds. The performance specifications are all in-line or better than Tesla’s current vehicles.
Tesla’s Model 3 is capable of 322 miles of range, zero to 60 miles per hour in 3.2 seconds and a recharge of 172 miles in 15 minutes.
The GM products, many of which were clay models, ranged from pickups and SUVs to newer versions of the Bolt EV. Some of the most notable vehicles included the GMC Hummer pickup and SUV, a Chevrolet pickup and a “flagship” Cadillac car and a large Escalade-sized SUV. The company did not release photos or renderings of the vehicles shown Wednesday.
GM reiterated that its next-generation of all-electric vehicles will be profitable and retain its coveted profit margins, largely thanks to a significant decrease in battery cell costs.
A new all-electric vehicle platform powered by proprietary “Ultium” batteries allow for the new levels of performance over GM’s current all-electric vehicles including the Bolt EV, achieving 259 miles of range and charging 100 miles of range in 30 minutes.
GM displayed three of 19 configurations of its new flexible and modular architecture for its next-generation all-electric vehicles during an “EV Day” on March 4, 2020.
GM
The first all-electric vehicle with the new technology will be the GMC Hummer pickup going on sale in the fall of 2021, followed by a Cadillac crossover for the U.S. in 2022. The automaker also will unveil a crossover based on the Chevrolet Bolt and its current EV platform called the Bolt EUV later this year, followed by production beginning in early-2021.