General Motors delivered big news at the Barclay Global Automotive Conference yesterday. Aside from teasing a future electric crossover, the automaker also announced new details for its electric-car plans, which include an all-new EV platform and a new battery system.
GM will have the platform ready for 2021 and said it will support nine separate vehicles to start. Reuters reported on Wednesday the vehicles include a compact crossover, a seven-passenger SUV and a large commercial van. The most important aspect of these future electric cars? GM said they will be profitable.
“We are committed to a future electric vehicle portfolio that will be profitable,” Barra said
GM will aim to reduce its lithium-ion battery costs from $145 per kilowatt hour to under $100 by 2021. The cost reduction would bring electric cars closer to a price parity with cars powered by an internal-combustion engine. An all-new battery system will also help slash costs by 30 percent, per the automaker, and range should soar past the 300-mile mark.
Comments
good job ?
Sounds like it will be scalable which goes along with GM’s effort to reduce the number of platforms across the board.
So yea, good news.
The real question is, whether GM has fallen into the “Old GM”, try to maximize the profit in short term but hurt in the long run. Based on the LG Electronics, LG Chem and GM’s collaboration mode on the Chevy Bolt, I seriously doubt the long term sustainability of GM. All other major electric car players (Tesla, VW, BMW, Mercedes) are bringing in more electric motor and battery manufacturing and patents in-house, yet GM is outsourcing. Is this another short sight by GM? We shall see. Besides, GM spends tons of money on buying back stocks, which is just a meaningless financial scheme profits shareholders but not the company. Their cash load is significantly lower than VW, Toyota and even Ford, which is another worrying sign since the auto sale is looking to another down term.