General Motors is planning to release a battery-electric pickup truck in the fall of 2021. While it’s not clear how many trucks the automaker is hoping to sell, rumors allege the pickup will be priced at the high end of the market, so the automaker doesn’t seem to be betting on selling hundreds of thousands of units right out of the gate.
However, GM CEO Mary Barra appeared on CNBC’s Squawk on the Street this week, where she told host Phil LeBeau that she thinks the truck can eventually sell in relatively large numbers, so long as GM properly identifies and delivers on what electric pickup truck buyers are looking for.
“I think [volume] can be very significant if we stay focused on the customer,” Barra said. “We have to make sure that we understand what an electric pickup driver is looking for, and that is what we’re intent on doing, building on the tremendous knowledge we have of the pickup truck market. So, really identifying and focusing on the customers the way that… I think that market can be really significant, and we’re excited in the not-to-distant future to share what our entry will be and, as you know, we’ve confirmed that we will be launching in the fall of ’21.”
LeBeau then asked Barra what she thinks of the Tesla Cybertruck – which generated plenty of publicity for its impressive statistics and low starting price, along with its undeniably strange exterior styling.
“Well I think, uh, you know it’s the customer’s decision to decide [what to think of the Cybertruck], not General Motors [and] certainly not me as the CEO of General Motors. What I can tell you though is I couldn’t be more excited about our battery-electric truck and I think it really capitalizes on all of our knowledge of trucks so I’m excited to get the reaction to that.”
Barra also said that GM has seen that some buyers just want to drive a truck because “trucks are cool,” which sounds as though the company recognizes that an electric pickup is more of lifestyle product rather than a replacement for a workhorse truck like a Chevrolet Silverado HD, for example. She also said that for this reason, both internal combustion-engine trucks and electric trucks will co-exist for a “very, very long time,” as they will likely appeal to different kinds of buyers.
GM’s battery-electric pickup will be built at its Detroit-Hamtramck plant and will enter production in mid-to-late 2021. It’s not clear if it will be sold as a Chevrolet, GMC, or under a separate brand. Rumors allege the truck will be a GMC, though GM has not provided any official information on the truck apart from its estimated time of arrival.
Deliveries of the Tesla Cybertruck are also expected to begin in late 2021, while Ford’s battery-electric truck will also launch sometime that year.
Barra appeared alongside LG Chem CEO Hak-Cheol Shin on Squawk on the Street. The two companies announced their new joint-venture battery plant in Lordstown, Ohio this week, which will produce battery cells for a number of future GM EVs, including but not limited to the pickup.
You can view the full interview in the video embedded below.
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Comments
in related, gm is lobbying like crazy to extend the tax subsidies. EVs are dead without them.
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/general-motors/2019/12/05/general-motors-mpg-electric-vehicle-tax-credit-fight/2601411001/
Chevy sold half as many Bolts as Impalas according to News report. The reporter was at a Chevy dealer that had no Bolts on the lot. Yet the Impala is DOA. Film at eleven.
That is because Dealerships DO NOT want to sell Bolts. And GM doesn’t want to build them.
Plus a Bolt is way overpriced and has arguably the cheapest Interior Plastics in the entire Industry. The Bolt in todays Market should be starting at $25,000.
The 2019 Chevrolet Bolt EV cost about $37K; but a similar gas powered vehicle might cost $10-15K less, a 2019 Chevrolet Silverado cost about $28K and the question Mary Barra has to explain is how popular would a $43K Silverado EV be especially if it is sold alongside the gas powered variant. Something else that Barra and General Motors needs to wrap their heads around is that the US power grid infrastructure cannot support 5-10 million electric vehicles.
They will probably start with EV’s for the Denali lineup so that they make slimmer profit instead of losing money, not base model Trucks. Lets face it, Denali owners only use their trucks for show, not day to day work, and would be more willing to transition towards EV’s than the Work Truck Buyers.
Here’s hoping this comment gets approved, because it’s critical to understanding GM’s EV strategy with BEV3 which is more expensive vehicles make money first, more affordable ones later.
The key is fleet sales and to drop the price to where fleets will be interested yet turn a profit.
The average truck buyer is not the prime target here. They would be more inclined to drive over a Prius vs own one.
The other option is high end image trucks as in Hummer like. The middle ground is just too soft to attract many.
@C8.R
Agreed about Fleet sales. I personally do not know of a single Truck Driver that would Pass on a Full size Pickup and or would not be interested in a Truck that can go 0-60 in 2.9 Seconds.
I know if I was a Pickup Truck Driver that would interest me a lot. A lot.
Well I know all the people you don’t.
The average truck driver is not interested in 2.0 0-60 but they are interested in a better more affordable truck.
Till the EV trucks are cheaper and charge faster the markets limited.
I wish the EV fans would cut this 0-60 bs. Yes they can be fast for a couple runs but then you have no range left. Getting there is much more important than getting to 60.
Trucks are not race cars or muscle cars to 90% of the buyers. Trucks today are too expensive and making them into an EV will only drive the price higher till cheaper batteries come through.
Also for towing. Yes EV truck have a high capacity but they do pay the price in range again. Also if you are driving commercial you do not want to stop to charge more than needed.
EV truck will need to go through the novelty stage with pick up. That is why the Hummer idea hold a lot of merit. Most never go off road. Most get blinged out and they are image vehicles. Perfect for a EV. Once the price of the batteries get cheaper fleet sales will become viable.
As for Tesla and Musk. He is just a modern day Jim Jones. Weak minds are easy to convert to fanatical followers. As long as he does not rip anyone off or offers koolaide more power to him but I can see through the con.
@C8.R
Would that be the reason the Raptor has a Powerful engine and freaking Paddle Shifters because “Truck Guys” do not care about Zero to Sixty Performance?
Would Ram be shoving a Hellcat engine in the 2021 TRX because People don’t care about Performance?
Yeah I must have missed the Memo that “Real Truck Guys” do not care about Speed Lol
Boy did she get really uncomfortable about EV Trucks being far superior to ICE Trucks. You could almost see her start to cry realizing in real time that if people Fall in love with the Tesla, Rivian, and any other EV Pickup Truck and the market moves away from ICE she will be losing out on a lot of money. Man she was so uncomfortable answering that.
I have always said that it simply does not matter at all what the Cybertruck looked like. Only thing that matters is that Tesla basically screwed the Big Three and they know it. Unless you are constantly towing heavy Duty cross country, EV Trucks will simply make much more sense. She knows it, Ford knows it, and Ram knows it. They are sweating this out right now. I am very curious to see what they all come out with. Do they come out with the same Specs that Tesla is offering?
If they do, they know they will start to see slower sales of their ICE Trucks. Especial in Fleet sales. The potential of savings for Truck owners is so huge that once people really start to realize just how much money they can save it will be almost insane to continue with an ICE Truck especially Fleet Companies. Every Carpenter and Tradesman will be insane to get ICE vs EV in the Not too distant future and this scares the living Daylights out of the Big Three.
I said this years ago and that Elon just needs to make a compelling Truck as far as capabilities are concerned (no matter what we think design wise) and boy did Tesla come through with a Pickup Truck with an amazing starting Price. Get your Popcorn ready in a year or two. This will become very interesting.
Huge gamble the Big Three will have to take. Do they Cannibalize their ICE Trucks and offer the same if not more capabilities than the Cybertruck or do they Sandbag their EV Trucks and allow an outsider to start taking their Market Share. What if customers then become Brand Loyal to Tesla, Rivian, or whomever else?
As I stated years ago, GM (Ford, and Ram) should have realized what was happening and reacted much sooner. I said once a Company makes a Zero Compromise Pickup Truck (Excluding Heavy Duty) that ICE was pretty much going to become mostly obsolete. Once you prove a Pickup Truck works with Batteries than there is no reason the Main Public would question EV cars and CUV’s. Lets all remember that Europe and China are going All In with EV’s. GM should have known better and not waited for Tesla to now control the narrative. Bad job out of the Big Three. I hate to say this but at least Ford made a compelling EV vehicle in the Mach – E which is much more than I can say about GM with the Bolt.
I do not care what Propulsion GM uses I just want them to be the Best. And whether we like it or not, the Future is EV and GM is now way behind. VW has taken the lead next to Tesla. GM better have some serious Home Runs in a year for their upcoming EV’s. If they show off a slightly bigger FWD Bolt like vehicle, put a fork in them.
Lets all Pray GM doesn’t botch this whole Future thing up as it is looking like right now.
“…we’re excited in the not-to-distant future to share what our entry will be…”
I bet you are. We haven’t seen a new Hummer in a decade now. If it was an EV Silverado or Sierra, there’d be no reason to draw this out, or conceal the brand of the 2021 truck. We already know the 2023 trucks are for Cadillac (Escalade) and GMC (Sierra).
It seems that traditional truck builders have two options:
Option 1 – defend their turf by undercutting Tesla, Rivian, etc.
GM, Ford, and Dodge can all build replacement trucks using EV powertrains and sell them for less than the upstarts. But this means they will lose a ton of money per unit, since the upstarts are already willing to lose money for market share and have less historical cost burdens to carry. Basically, the big three would be the “low risk” alternative for consumers.
Option 2 – build only EVs that make profits
Given her statements, this sounds like GM’s approach. Given the cost of developing the tech and the current costs of batteries, build only the high end vehicles favored by wealthy consumers. Like with Lincoln’s Blackwood and their new Aviator PHEV, the question is how many folks want a $90k pickup.
@Bob
That is exactly what I have been saying. GM, Ford, and FCA desperately needed the Tesla Cybertruck to be a complete Dud. They DO NOT want to compete with a $39,000 EV Full Size Pickup Truck that will have basically Zero Maintenance, up to 9mm Bullet Proof exterior, never Rust, not scratch, and Shatter Proof Glass. Well by the time it hits the Market Lol .
All three know they are in trouble and Elon just put them on notice. You are correct about their two choices. We all here know they Desperately want to figure out how to keep Pumping ICE Pickup Trucks for as long as possible. Elon with Tesla just put the Big Three in a HUGE Predicament. All three have a very serious and potentially devastating decision to make.
Do they let Atlis, Lordstown, Rivian, and Tesla grab a huge chunk of their Hard fought Pickup Market with their EV Pickup Trucks so they can continue to pump out High Margins ICE Trucks.
Or…Do they try and compete with compelling EV Trucks that match Tesla (in Price Only) with an EV Truck that will start at $39,000 which we all here know none of them want to make in any serious volume as they will not be able to make a Profit on them.
So the issue is do they allow their Fleet Customers to switch to EV’s which will completely destroy GM’s Bottom line and completely alienate the Dealerships as well?
Will Dealerships really Try to push Vehicles which are their money makers to Potential Customers that they know they will most likely never see again until they need another Truck in 5/8 years?
The Big Three never took a man that figured out how to Land and Reuse freaking Space Rockets and his little Niche Car Company serious enough as I have been stating for years and they are all in trouble now.
I would not want to be in the Boardrooms and Shareholder meetings for the Big Three right now. As I stated years ago…They shouldn’t have waited this long. Now they are in trouble and either decision they make will have potential catastrophic outcomes.
GM is late to the EV truck market. Ford will be the leader in EV trucks (as it has been for decades in gas trucks), then the rest will be covered by Rivian, Workhorse, and Tesla (ugh!). But GM EV trucks will catch up as truck buyers realize how cheap an EV truck will be for long term ownership. The only parts with regular wear are the wiper blades, which are user replaceable.
Don’t believe me? Just search for the Chevy Bolt EV owner Manual and read the maintenance schedule. The Bolt EV may have not sold many, but all of their owners are happy that it will save thousands of dollars in their future.
EV Trucks will be a Nightmare for the Big Three. Once Fleet customers realize just how much freaking money they will save they will never go back to ICE.
The Big Three will still be Big in the HD Space though. I do not see any of these New Comers trying to fill that Space.
One issue you might have is potential Customers that will have EV 1500’s in their Fleets will no doubt start demanding EV HD Pickup Trucks. When that happens, the Party is over for the Big Three.
I said it years ago and I will continue to say it, GM better start making Malibu, Impala, and CUV’s as EV’s right now to get prices down because once Trucks go EV, they will be clawing for Profits like the rest of the Auto Makers. The Problem with this is that unfortunately for us GM fans is that Toyota, Honda, and other Auto Makers that do not depend on ICE Pickup Trucks for all of their profits already know how to get great Margins from their Vehicles. Will GM be able to do the same?
Looking forward to what they have to offer. Just please GM don’t put a massive screen in the middle like Tesla and Ford. Buttons are cool.
If electric truck sales will be significant then why did GMs head clown marry Barry sell Lordstown to the competition for $20 million.
workhorse has a monthly revenue of about $5K. your local policeman probably makes more per month than this company.
@Ex GM customer for life
The reason GM sold it is because it was a PR disaster for them. They had to sell it off to anyone who wanted to purchase it except to any of it’s main competitors. They Tried to save face that the jobs in Lordstown will at least somewhat still exist and Workforce is not a True Competitor to GM as of right now.
I agree.
Sad part is GM and the politicians will praise each other about creating up to 1100 low paying jobs.
They will avoid the fact that there was 4500 good paying jobs there a few years ago. They will neglect to mention that the old assembly jobs have moved to Mexico.
GM is trying to pull a fast one and our representative are helping them do it.
And to top it off our representatives will probably give out tax money to bring these jobs here.
OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD, BARRA,. how about giving some consideration to setting dealerships up to be able to sell medium duty trucks so that I dont have to patronize my local ford dealer or drive 100 miles to the nearest dealer that is ALLOWED to sell them, makes absolutely NO common sense, spending the kind of money it took to design, develope and produce and then end up with frustrated dealers and “Loyal” customers because only a small portion of dealers can sell them!!!! 🙁 and how about getting your marketing strategy geared up on the rest of chevy silverados so that you quit losing market share…..but no, you have to spend 4 BILLION on an unknown future and let the tried and true keep falling behind