GM is plotting a new Ultium based EV that will be more affordable than the Chevy Equinox EV, which will be priced from roughly $30,000 when it arrives in the fall of 2023.
Speaking during the automaker’s recent fourth-quarter earnings call, GM CEO Mary Barra said the economies of scale enabled by the Ultium platform, which will share key components across a variety of vehicle models, will enable it to offer affordable, budget-minded EVs in the near future.
“The efficiencies created by the Ultium platform are a key reason why we will be able to deliver truly affordable EVs like the Equinox,” Barra said. “Affordable EVs are part of the market that start-ups aren’t targeting, but they are key to driving mass adoption of EVs, which is a national and a global priority. That’s why we plan to follow the Equinox with an even more affordable EV.”
GM Ultium EV platform
It seems likely this more affordable EV will be a subcompact crossover that will undercut the Chevy Equinox EV in size. We envision such a vehicle as being roughly the same size as the Chevy Bolt EUV, but with superior range and performance enabled by the more energy-dense Ultium battery pack and more efficient Ultium Drive electric motors. The Chevy Bolt EUV, as a reminder, is based on GM’s ageing BEV2 platform and utilizes a 65 kWh battery pack with outgoing chemistry.
GM isn’t the only automaker working on an ultra-affordable EV. Tesla has expressed a desire to offer a more affordable model priced from around $25,000, which is often referred to in the media as the Model 2. This vehicle will allegedly be produced at Tesla’s factory in Shanghai and will be exported globally. This vehicle’s future arrival is only rumored, however, so GM can still beat Tesla the affordable EV punch in the next couple of years.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM electric vehicle news, GM business news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Well ya!
As batteries come down we will see more focus on cheaper and lower cost EV models.
Yup! Thanks Scott!
I think the big surprise for all the EV makers may be raw material issues. I just saw Nickel is in short supply, I know cobalt is, and of course copper is also thru the roof. Lithium is not the only ingredient in batteries, but seems to be where all the attention is. I get lithium is the main thing in the batteries, but without the other stuff, you just have a pile of lithium.
this is why GM is investing in mining companies to get their supply lines set.
US has little cobalt. About 1/2 of all the known cobalt is in DRC. Countries such as DRC can add taxes at a whim if they want breaking contracts. You see it often with copper. Even today, what 3% of all cars are EV’s. So multiply by 30 for how much more of these metals are going to be required. Last year a ton of cobalt was trading around 50K. It jumped to 70K around Jan 1st. Nickel was trading around 19K/ton last year. This year it is now 22K. The thing is, miners want to be paid, land owners want to be paid, and if the commodity is in higher demand with less supply, price goes up. I think it was nickel that this month even if you had a firm order, you did not get delivery sometimes. LME just recently (Jan 18) allowed some holders that were supposed to delivery metal defer. This happened with copper several times last year. That is how short supply is.
There’s actually a pile of Cobalt in the Nevada Desert
Don’t they have to destroy the landscape to get to any of that?
How do you destroy the landscape of the desert? Almost anything would be an improvement. LOL
Exactly-and usually with slave labor.
There is *some* cobalt in Nevada. After DRC, Australia, Russia and Canada are the next blessed. US has very little known reserves. The problem as I said is the amount needed is 30X todays production. And do you really think cobalt out of Nevada is going to be less expensive than child labor extracted DRC cobalt? I am not disputing more can be mined, I am disputing the price. And it is the price of raw materials that limits battery cost even if you can make the battery out of raw materials at no cost.
You are way behind in modern chemistry. The latest cell uses iron and phosphorus, and its composition is LiFePO4 . Each cell hold only 3 volts in comparison with the original 3.7 volt Lithium-ion, but it is very stable, and does not overheat when charged or discharged. I have a storage battery made by Bluetti with LiFePO4 that holds 500 WH but it weighs only 30 pounds.
I think GM should offer quality product than cheap EV . Every other automaker is out with compact crossover EV . If GM makes a me too product I am sure it will go down through the drain.
Is there a down-vote bot running on this site or something. Holy crap.
Except the competition starts at $40k. The $30k Equinox and something cheaper would own the lower end of the market.
As I have stated here for many years, it will become so cheap to manufacture BEV’s that Automakers will start losing money or charging insane MSRP’s on ICE vehicles.
As far as the cheaper than Nox vehicle wouldn’t it be the Trailblazer?
They will never be stupid cheap but they will be more profitable. Due to that we will see more things added or better offered than today to win sales.
Imagine cheaper cars with interiors of higher quality than what we have today in luxury cars. Added content and features standard like HUD etc.
Buyers will see more for their money but companies will still be making more profits.
Just killing the development cost of the ICE engines just to meet the tougher regulations will be a big boost.
Have you not seen the 5K EV in China?
Yes it wouldn’t pass safety here or any other First World but even if you add all the safety features to pass it will what double at most?
Batteries will become so cheap in the Future that we will once again see 10K cars. Not sure if consumers would want them or not but it could happen.
so you’ve been wrong for many years and counting.
Sounds like someone else I know. 👆
Looks like every Automaker is jumping into the EV Segment but sure keep thinking it won’t happen.
it sure does. gm stock $100/share in 2022.
Trailblazer is an apt comparison. I suspect this sub-Equinox EV will be built in Korea as well
GM Spending billions in MI and nearby fo EVs and battery plants, both new and rebuilds. Commitment!
Tesla confirmed last week that they are not working on the $25k at the moment. That market is all GMs for the taking.
Everyone has a lower price cars coming and it will be interesting to see who gets it right and makes money.
The Tesla small car will be here after the truck in 23 or 24………25 or 26.
I think Tesla realized the problem with small EVs is low profit and high cost for infrastructure (new chargers, more servicing, etc). The boutique companies remain in the luxury segment because they can afford it.
Tesla just doesn’t have the resources like GM. If Tesla made a low cost EV they would make a killing in Europe and China.
GM has produced the Volt and then the Bolt. May as well call the new EV the Chevy Jolt.
Can we get in an EV car also? And not a Bolt 2.0 style car.
so the bolt euv is basically dead before it even got started.
Why not a Bolt EUV with an Ultium battery pack? GM says the Ultium battery is cheaper and has greater energy density, should be relatively easy to change the battery and get a few more years off the Bolt EUV tooling.
Bolt is a bunch of batteries stuffed in a Sonic chassis. They could probably design an ultium pack to fit, but they would also have to use the ultium motors and make those fit. Why do that when you have the modular ultium platform that was designed for batteries and electric motors just sitting there.
I believe they are also going to retool the current Bolt plant for electric Silverado/Sierra production.
I think your confusing the Bolt with the Spark EV. The Bolt was designed by Daewoo on its own platform, GM BEV2 which is totally different from the Gamma platform used for the Sonic and Spark.
The Bolt uses a 400 V battery. Ultium batteries can be configured for either 400 V or 800 V configurations, the latter for larger vehicles. So a 400 V Ultium battery would be compatible with the Bolt’s motor. Actually, the existing Bolt inverter should be capable of accepting 400 V DC from either battery type and converting that power to AC to drive the existing Bolt motor. GM could stuff an Ultium based battery into the existing space because the Ultium battery has better density, meaning it needs less space. Ultium is also cheaper.
In regards to the electric Silverado taking over the plant where the Bolt is currently being built, I think you are right. My point is why recreate new tooling when the existing Bolt tooling could be moved to another plant. This allows GM to get a low cost EV out quickly, and in the future bring out a next gen Bolt that is fully compatible with the Ultium architecture.
Actually all GM’s to date have 400 volt hardware… The 800 volt charging allowed on the HUMMER EV and the electric Silverado product are 200 kwh products that put 1/2 the batteries in series with the other half during charging, but run at 400 volts while driving…. The cheapest vehicles in each model lineup are only 400 volt charging capable.
This 800 volt facility is to allow lower current (< 500 amperes) charging at a 350 kw rate, the defacto standard for the largest fast charging stations.. Most NEW stations in my locale have 6 – 150 kw fast chargers and 1 – 350 kw fast charger – so presumably most of us will gladly suffer along at the slower rate – over a lunch break, etc..
800 volt inverters and motors will appear in the future as they become more cost-effective, but are not absolutely necessary presently. As far as Cobalt shortages go, GM is minimizing the vehicle's Cobalt requirement as well as minimizing any 'rare earth' requirement…. The overall situation is not as intractable as the nay-sayers like to claim.
Make it look sick and call it the CHEVELLE EV! A $25k 250+HP base version and $40k SS version around 425+++HP should do the trick. Perhaps even an El Camino or Ute variant since small trucks are all the rage these days?
Keep it simple but attractive. Give it a high people space, low exterior size quotient – roomy space for four people, five in a pinch. Prioritize the fun quotient – zippiness and maneuverability/handling are musts. Let it be the ideal purchase for commuters and weekend trips, and ignore those who complain it won’t make it from LA to San Francisco on a single charge. 250 mile range would attract many buyers from first-time EV shoppers to EV veterans considering a second EV which, with its compact footprint and fun factor, make it an extremely fine choice. Simplicity. Fun to drive. That’s how it will stand apart and be the success it is destined to be.
Stuart, can’t agree with a 250-mile range. Remember, these range estimates are for near-perfect conditions. In real-world scenarios, such as freezing weather now in the Midwest, where I live, that 250 miles will likely become 170, and recharge times will suffer, too. That’s not a formula for a first-time car buyer; it might work if it’s your 2nd or 3rd vehicle, but it you can afford more than one car, this isn’t the article you should be reading. Longer range and faster charging times are what will make EV’s more mainstream, especially if they’re priced in the 20-30 thousand dollar range.
Michael, we’re talking about a low cost, base model EV. A second car for some, an EV that works ideally in population centers rather than rural areas. 170 miles is still pretty damn good for local use, and I’m speaking from experience after owning a Spark EV with its 90 mile range. I now own a Bolt with close to triple the range of the Spark.
If indeed more range would be necessary, move up a step to the Equinox EV.
Stuart, even the Equinox will not have the shorter charging times (reportedly). I’m a firm backer of EV’s, but I maintain that people who are looking for these cheaper models will be buying this as their only vehicle; they will need to be able to charge quickly. We can’t expect them to be limited to a 250-mile range ALL the time…it’s great for 90% of your days, but confining someone to 250 miles will be a quick way to watch them buy something else, instead. People want to be able to take road trips with their only vehicle. If solid state batteries really bring charge times down to 15 minutes or so to go to 80% charge (netting you another 150-200 miles or so), THEN I think people will start to buy these in droves; most people want to stop after 2-3 hours of driving to get out and stretch, and 15 minutes isn’t too long to wait (IMO). That’s why I’m going after a PHEV to start with; it will allow me to drive the 90% (work and back with some errands here and there) on electricity, plug in at home with a regular outlet while I sleep, and have 100% of range the next day (rinse/repeat), but still enable me to drive the 600-mile trip that I make a few times a year to see family in a different state. In the meantime, I’ll wait for battery technology and charging station infrastructure to catch up (in the Midwest, at least).
Do you have only one vehicle? If so, I would not dispute your position.
Second question – have you driven an EV? Priuses don’t count, they are leashed to their ICE side and you won’t get the same experience of total silky smoothness, drivetrain silence, instant response to the accelerator pedal.
If in fact you do have more than one ICE in your household, you should not dismiss the thought of replacing one with an EV, even with today’s technology.
Stuart,
I do have just one vehicle, and my wife has one. Both are AWD sedans (for the winter season here). I’ve never driven an EV, but I have a John Deere compact utility tractor that has essentially what you’re talking about…one-pedal driving (although I’m sure with a true EV the instant torque is even more than what I experience with my JD).
I’m VERY excited to have EV’s in my future, but the time for full EV is not now. My plan, again, is to replace my AWD ICE sedan with a PHEV (I have an order in for the NX450h+…essentially a fancy RAV4 Prime), but just like the Prime, getting these vehicles in the Midwest is rediculously hard, due to manufacturer’s decision to only roll these out in the “green” states first. I put money down on a Prime nearly 2 years ago when they’d just been announced…still waiting for this. The Toyota dealerships have explained to me that they each get ONE of these for the entire year. The Lexus dealer told me that Lexus is going to be more liberal with that, but that may have been just to get me to put some money down.
Again, once it’s practical for me or anyone else who has to travel hundreds and hundreds of miles on occasion, the charging times will need to come down, and the range will need to increase before I can realistically make the jump to full EV. In the meantime, I’ll pursue my PHEV and only use the ICE portion on occasion.
Thanks for the conversation!
the manufacturer’s lose $$ on everyone they sell so they only sell in states where they are trying to please the pols.
Hmmm…not sure I buy that. Do you have literature to back that up? I can’t see ANY car manufacturer build something that they know will LOSE them money…
they are called compliance vehicles to comply with state or local emission laws so they can sell the big ICE SUVs and pickups where they make their $$$. a $40 K EV is a $20 K car with a $20 K gas tank (battery).
GM has stated in a few presentations last year that they aim for all their EVs to start at 300 miles of range. They haven’t made a bigger public statement about that yet so not sure if that will hold.
I hope they do, and I hope that’s real-world 300 miles, not only in California on a perfect day. Also, charging times will still be a decision-making point, because some road trips will still require that. Fingers crossed.
I also want to know the car industries plans for recycling all these batteries…it’s like LED bulbs; every place sells them now, but few offer environmentally safe recycling. IMO, you should not be allowed to SELL it unless you also will RECYCLE the product (without having to obtain a court order to force them to do this).
For battery recycling there are companies like Redwood materials and Li-Cycle. Li-Cycle is working directly with GM for recycling.
Evs will ultimately be more profitable for automakers hence why they do not lobby against the transition. Unfortunately, they aren’t very green and must be driven 44,000 miles cover battery’s carbon footprint. After than, this only works if they are powered by green energy like nuclear (yes, EU has designated nuclear energy as environmentally friendly).
Toyota is right be be looking at a mix including hydrogen vehicles. GM needs to take it’s jv with Honda farther
how many people are going to get up an hour hour earlier to go charge the batteries. ?? till you can charge the batteries in the time it takes to fill the gas tank EVs will be a hard sell to people who can not charge at home.
Nobody would “get up an hour earlier” because that’s dumb. You’d plug your car in when you get home, and unplug it when you leave.
Do you get up an hour early to plug your phone in?
what about the person who lives on the 10 floor of an apartment building. where is he going to plug in when he gets home ?? people forget everyone does not have a garage for their car. these people are going to be a hard sell
I didn’t forget about them, but if you buy an electric car when you don’t have a place to plug it in, you’re dumb.
Is this going to be a huge problem? Probably.
GM’s EVs add 75-100 miles of range in 10 minutes of DC fast charging. If you need more than that for your daily commute and don’t have charging at home or work then an EV is not for you until the infrastructure is built up.
It’s time for factual info on charging. I own a 2017 Bolt and you can charge with a 120 v outlet at home/ work. The average commute is easily recharged even at this slower accessible level. If you must Fast charge outside your home it can be done at a Walmart in the time it takes to get a few things crossed off your shopping list.
You should slow charge “outside your home” too, so you don’t burn it down.
Dear Nate,
That is true only if you have not gotten the battery replaced. From my understanding 2017 Bolts are being replaced first as they are the oldest.
Robert, have you gotten your battery replaced yet?
Dear Robert,
That is exactly right. I owned a 2017 Bolt for 4 years and I would plug it in to the 120v charger that came with the car every time I came home, and it was ready to go the next morning fully charged with Hilltop Reserve on (About 90% charge). I never needed a level 2 charger. Only on vacation did I use fast level 3 chargers of 50kW or higher and level 2 chargers at hotels.
Robert, have you had your battery replaced yet? If so, how did it go?
The affordable ($25,000 or less) EV market is something that GM could really shine at with it’s now 4 USA Ultium battery manufacturing plants coming soon with a capacity of 1 million units per year. It certainly is GM’s ultimate goal, with their Ultium platform, to dominate all segments of the EV market from affordable to luxury models. This is especially true since Elon Musk just said a few days ago that Tesla is not working on a $25,000 Tesla and he shows very little interest in his long-ago proposed budget $25,000 Model. He seems to be showing more interest in an eerie home robot and spewing loads of CO2 into the atmosphere using his private jet. And this is at a time where the number of EV choices are really starting to explode, especially Kia and Hyundai 300-mile range EVs with its incredible 250kW charging platform. That is higher than the proposed 190kW maximum that Cadillac’s Lyriq is capable of and faster than the Mustang Mach-E’s 150kW maximum. We will have to see what the charging curve is on both and see which one charges faster from 10% to 90% once they do come out.
Source: “Tesla will not introduce the Cybertruck this year, and is not working on a $25,000 car now, says Musk” PUBLISHED WED, JAN 26 2022 UPDATED WED, JAN 26 2022 PM EST CNBC dot COM by Todd Haselton
Motorman:
Your prospective customer living in a crowded apartment building is admittedly a ‘worst case’ scenario…. But even so, if there is parking space available, or space made for a ‘charging kiosk’ somewhere in the co-located parking lot, they will be able to charge there…. By having all the charging occur in one small area, the Landlord will not be forced to spend an exorbitant amount since only one electric feed is necessary for the Kiosk, and if it is nearer the power lines than the buildings themselves, can be easily fed by its own single electric service thereby not requiring any modernization to the existing apartments/condos whatsoever. Billing will be by credit card or private password to uniquely identify the tenant.
For the absolutely IMPOSSIBLE situation of only PUBLIC STREET PARKING, those areas will soon have some chargers co-located with the parking meters.
if he only has on street parking and it does have a charger do you think the car owner is going to come out and move his car when it is charged and drive around looking for another place to park. EVs are only going to work for home charging owners till they get batteries that can be recharged as quick as a gas tank fill up
Hah!
I put a fact filled comment foreseeing the exact future, and it gets down voted, while wild speculation with no basis in fact or cost-effectiveness gets plenty of thumbs up.
Rather like the ‘backup power’ naysayers who – rather than be glad for a feature that has rarely existed and has proven its worth in Texas early last year when those IDIOTS following WOKE policies couldn’t keep the lights on WITH OR WITHOUT evs at the first cold snap – when Turcks with the FORD PRO POWER feature (at that time running on an ICE TRUCK) saved the day for dozens of people who had a week’s worth of power they wouldn’t otherwise have – just FIND fault and automatically assume everyone’s battery will go dead –
NOW say that there are certain circumstances when an EV might not be the best choice for absolutely – positively everyone.
It only takes HALF A BRAIN to realize that if GM is DUMB ENOUGH to discontinue ABSOLUTELY 100% of their ICE offerings, that then there will be other companies (eg: Ram, Toyota, and possibly FORD, etc) that will offer ICE offerings much more to the prospective customer’s liking… Duh !
This is of course dependent on being in “Non-Wokeism” areas…Places like NYC and the entire state of California where all electric heat is being mandated for new construction… Those people silly enough to live in such properties will freeze at some point in time every winter.
Relax. “Landlord… forced to spend” is kinda a laughable phrase.
Some people want to take the leap to EV. Some that do will decide the leap is too far. Ford is positioned better with hybrid offerings under the EV halo. It won’t surprise me to see that powerboost truck do decently. Let 6.2 guys have their cake and eat it too.
If the economy cycles downward and energy/fuel shoots up, the risk is vehicle segments will shift toward where GM has forgotten. It’s hard to see an ‘affordable EV’ helping Chevy much. Caddy dealers could probably use a youth-appealing loss leader EV to gain interest from families that maintain disposable income.
“Landlord forced to spend” is *not* a laughable phrase….. they must pay property and school taxes and mortgage payments every year whether their tenants are allowed to defer rent payments or not.
Whether Landlords care to personally install charging stations or not, it is much more likely they will do so if they can turn an ‘apparent burden’ into a small profit center….Many will likely – with certain subsidies – (you can say that they are fair, or not fair to the ICE buying public) – install them but in any case will look for this most cost-effective WIN WIN solution I just outlined.
i am a christian and i believe if god thought we could destroying his planet with use of fossil fuels he would have not given them for us to use in the first place. only god can destroy his planet like the time noah had to build an ark. do you really believe that politicians are smarter than god ???
Why does he make Osama bin Laden etc…and why did she give a lot of the oil to muslim countries etc…oh wait god is not Christian is it ?
I have no problem with mined fuels.. Anyone who calls them FOSSIL FUELS can explain firstly how Saturn’s Moon Titan has 5000 years supply of LNG (at currently earthly consumption rates) right out in the open in Lakes full of the stuff…. That is before you even get a shovel out to see what be underneath the ground.
I’d love to know how all the dead plants and Dinosaurs got up there – enough to make an effectively ENDLESS SUPPLY of the stuff – and that in only one obscure place.
We HAD a 250 year supply of COAL – which is being mined at record rates currently – but it is all being shipped oversees to make Steel – and to keep the lights on in Europe – since they have more than their share of WOKISM over there also, and couldn’t keep the lights on otherwise.
Incidentally, to your ‘parking meter – move the car when done charging’ comment – the facilities on a low-cost installation will be SMALL ENOUGH so that the person must stay at the facility at least 8 hours to get a reasonable charge, with 12-14 hours not being out of the question – but facts or economy of operation don’t seem to matter to most of the naysayers here.
As a Christian also, I dislike forcing others to pay for my refueling decisions, and therefore even though I drive 3 evs, I am not in favor of subsidized public charging facilities… I like most electric car drivers am in favor of TAX CREDITS (where it doesn’t cost the gov’t anything – but there is just less theft from the taxpayers on the particular year the credit is supplied) – and am against any proposals to subsidize electricity rates where such subsidies cause extra expense among other non-ev ICE-Driving electric subscribers.
Tesla is NOT working on a more affordable EV according to their last earnings call. The so called model 2 is just a rumour spawned by Musk saying a few years ago that Tesla “could” build one by 2023. He now says they’re not even working on one, and won’t be adding any more new models. They expect to make their money from rich idiots paying $15k per vehicle for an illegal FSD system. A sub $30k buyer can’t do that.
The important thing to keep in mind, because Mary Barra said so, is that GM is the leader in Evs…
That’s why GM stock is $54 a share and Tesla stock is $890 a share… Making stock available and affordable for the average GM buyer as only GM can.
In my humble non- expert opinion once the fuel credits tank and Tesla starts losing money, again, the investors will bail. Tesla’ s only hope to not lose market share when the real rush of new EV launches start happening is to remain innovative. That and hope that one of Tesla researchers is the first to come up with an afordable solid state battery.
Stock prices are ridiculously high now due to Financialization – where companies speculate on their own stock price, and ‘earn’ more than if they just made Prudent Capital Investment to improve Productivity and therefore profitability, through traditional Return on Investment….Sooner on Later – prices have to come back down to earth – either directly through a drop in price, or indirectly via a Fed which through legal counterfeiting INFLATES it all away.
The old joke of Rip Van Winkle being woken by an old school pay phone call: “I’ve hit the Lottery and won $Millions ! ” Then the operator comes on and says “Please Deposit another $50,000 for the next 3 minutes.”
The more the big three go BEVs the more their traditional dealers will interfere with their roll outs just look at Fords dealers charging surcharges to people on their reservation list. I was just at a Chevy dealer and saw they had a Bolt EUV which I’ve been interested in seeing in person. It was a 2022 but had an as is no dealer warranty sticker on it. They want $35K for it. When I asked it the car had the new battery pack/updates she said no. I imagine they feel stuck with a car they have to cover by insurance on it’s lot so they want out from under with little responsibility. While she said they would do the battery updates God knows when they’d get around to it. I think it will be a while before we’ll see real and available BEVs from GM and others till 2023. I will continue enjoying my 2016 Chevy Spark EV that just turned over 15K I got almost 2 years ago for $11K. The used market is the way to go and I am hoping there will be a growing third party services that could offer updated batteries, controllers, software etc as a possible way to get newer tech in older EVs. Definitely going to be an interesting upcoming 2 years for sure.