Like many automakers, General Motors has had its fair share of struggles over the last few years. This is especially true related to the manufacturer's EV efforts. However, CEO Mary Barra has been very vocal of late, sharing the company's aggressive future EV plans with the world.
Just this week, Barra said GM plans to deliver some 400,000 electric vehicles in North America between now and 2023. The company has continued to reiterate its plans to deliver 1 million EVs in North America through 2025 in an attempt to top Tesla as the overall leader in the segment.
During GM's 2021 fourth-quarter and full-year financial results meeting, Barra admitted that 1 million EVs in North America by 2025 won't be enough to satisfy the growing demand. She said:
"I can tell you right now, 1 million units in North America won't be enough to meet the steep inflection in demand that we expect starting mid-decade for our EVs. That's why we'll continue to convert ICE capacity to EVs and plan to invest in a third EV truck plant. We are formulating plans for the truck plant right now and we'll share more as we work through the details."
Barra added that of the 1 million EVs GM plans to sell in North America by 2025, 600,000 will be full-size electric pickup trucks. She also noted that GM will have the capacity for 1 million EVs in China around the same time. So, it appears as though the automaker is actually looking at a capacity for 2 million global EVs over the next four years or so.
GM provided other points of interest during the meeting as well. It aims to invest $35 billion in electric and autonomous vehicle development, with 30 new electric cars across the globe by 2025. Interestingly, Barra said two-thirds of these EVs will be available in North America.
Barra also shared that GM currently has over 190,000 reservations for its upcoming EVs, including the Chevrolet Silverado EV, Hummer EV pickup, Hummer EV SUV, and BrightDrop electric delivery vans. However, the number doesn't include orders for the Cadillac Lyriq.
With all of that said, Barra believes the Chevrolet Equinox EV may garner the most interest. It will start at around $30,000 and be available in the fall of 2023. In addition, she said GM also plans to offer an EV that's cheaper than the electric Equinox. Barra shared:
"The efficiencies created by the Ultium platform are a key reason why we will be able to deliver a truly affordable EVs like the Equinox. Affordable EVs are part of the market that startups aren't targeting, but they are key to driving mass adoption of EVs, which is a national and a global priority."
As always, we encourage you to let us know what you think. Are GM's plans aggressive enough? Will the automaker be capable of carrying them out successfully while sticking to projected timelines? Scroll down to the comment section and leave us your thoughts.
