GM Vice President of Global Product Development Doug Parks is, to paraphrase Georges St. Pierre, not impressed by Tesla’s performance.
“There is nothing in the Tesla battery that we don’t know,” said Parks in a report, noting that Tesla’s strategy is “very intriguing” and that GM is and has been closely scrutinizing the company, but “matching what Tesla did is not that exciting,” in regards to the $70,000 and upwards Tesla Model S. He added, “The real trick will be, who can build a 200-mile car at the prices” around $25,000-$40,000.
Yet, while Parks said the technology is available now, the kilowatt hour cost of batteries remains too high for the car to be a possibility as it stands currently. It’s expected that Tesla will debut the so-called Model E in 2016, which is expected to have a 200-mile EV range and will hit a price point south of $40,000. GM is eyeing such a vehicle, as well, but it’s unclear if it will be the next-generation Chevrolet Volt or not.
“The game is afoot,” he said of the electric vehicle market. “This is a long race,” Parks concluded.
Comments
This is what I have been saying all along. Anyone can build a car like this for $100K but it was just that no one thought anyone would buy them. This has made GM rethink this as they could easily do a 200 mile plus Cadillac.
The fact is the Tesla has really no innovation in the car they are using it for the ways to charge faster or battery swaps as they have no answer to the real battery issue.
The trick is to make a cheap electric car with any size and range that is difficult.
I think GM will not abandon the Voltec system but they will rearrange their strategy and will include a more expensive Tesla car that will surpass what ever they are doing in range. GM will continue to work on batteries that last longer and are cheaper to still improve these cars across the board.
It amazes me the people who were blinded by Tesla for what it is. It is a fine car but it is not leading technology in anyway. Elon for the most took a chance that people would pay big bucks and he was right they did. Elon also has been the master on PR and marketing on the web. GM has dropped the ball here as they made a big fuss on the Volt and then nothing. Now they are talking again. You have to keep these cars up in front of the people and sell them on the idea and concepts involved here. This is not just a build it and they will come.
The Volt is a much more advanced car but few people yet to understand it. On the other hand the web marketing by Tesla and the media has made them look like they invented the electric car? Hell the batteries they are using are just based on a lap top and nothing like what GM has done so far.
Given time I think GM will get the markets figured out. I will not blame them as few people saw Tesla making it and most expected another Fiskar.
As I stated in the battery lab expansion post this is the Ace card GM holds.
Tesla is working to charge or change batteries faster GM is working to make them last longer and cost less.
This is where the battle will be fought long term and won.
Few other companies have anything close to this as all they are doing is just trying to get cars on the road and sharing info with others to save cost.
I don’t care if G.M. produces a vehicle that will fly to the moon; I won’t buy it. The only reason they are talking about a decent electric car now is because Tesla has attracted a lot of potential customers who Government Motors thought were forced to buy their inferior junk. G.M. killed the EV1 program, and the Volt is a pathetic joke for a company the size of G.M. For a corporation the size of G.M., the Volt should be an embarrassment. Especially with all the Government money they got in 2009. For the size Government Motors is, and the quantity of resources they have, they should have produced an electric vehicle years ago that would do 300 miles, and then some.
In my opinion G.M. thought they could keep people addicted to foreign oil, by forcing them to buy petroleum powered Hummers that gave 7 miles per gallon of gas at $3.75 per gallon. G.M. has lost me as a customer fifteen years ago, and they will never get me back. I intend to put an order in for a Tesla Model S within a year, and scrap my Chrysler gas hog.
300 miles is plenty of range for a car, now all that is needed are charging ports with Tesla plugs on them put into every existing gas station in North America. If there were only a gas station spotted here, and there in only the highest density population areas, people would have range anxiety with gas engine vehicles as well. People had range anxiety in 1973, and also last year after Hurricane Sandy when they couldn’t get gas. (thank you for reading my rant)
Wow how does that Bull Sh&t flavored Koolaide taste?
Cassidy did you see GM hold a gun to any ones head to buy a Hummer?
Do you have any clue that the EV1 was not really a good production car and was mostly a publicity and electric experiment that laid the ground work for the Volt. All that was worth while on the EV1 was used and improved on the Volt.
Do you have the slightest clue that a charge port in every station is years away and even then that is not enough for a very large market.
Do you have a clue that after Sandy there were many areas you could not charge a electric car for months.
The thing is there are no shortages of gas and stations so there is and will be no anxiety on Gas. Now the electric bills will rise with the killing of coal in many areas and shortages of Nuke power.
As for you not buying a GM car we are fine with that as we like to think we have higher standards than to let someone like you into the pool.
Folks while this joker may just be a poorly prepared troll there are some others that really believe some of this BS. It is sad that some people do drink the koolaide and are mislead so easily.
The truth is now that Tesla has shown there is a market for over priced luxury electric cars the big players will jump in and will over shadow Tesla. Musk as a lot of money but he does not have the kind of money GM, Toyota and Daimler has. I expect at some point Musk will sell out to one of the MFG for a healthy profit. The sad thing is they will be buying a name but not much advanced technology.
The sad truth is the Tesla is just an expensive electric car packed with lap top like batteries and that is about it. The motors in the hubs are not any better than the Volts and the Volt has a much more advance battery. If GM has chosen to take the Tesla route with a car for near $100K they would top anything Tesla has. I suspect we will see that soon with a larger Cadillac.