Here in America, we invent all kinds of new and fantastic ways to get mad about the things we see on cable news. For approximately half the country, electric vehicles are one of those things. People are mad that they might be "forced" into buying EVs, and even if that's not actually the case, even the CEO of General Motors admits she's been caught off guard by the backlash.
GM CEO Mary Barra's latest comments on the EV race headline this Monday edition of Critical Materials, our morning roundup of tech and auto industry news. We'll also look at Nissan's new plug-in hybrid plans and why South Korea's recent EV battery fire scare may even have an upside.
30%: GM's CEO On EVs: 'One Of The Most Exciting Times In Our Industry'
I have to hand it to Barra: I think she struck the right tone during an interview on CBS' Sunday Morning this past weekend. GM has actually been having a pretty good do-over year for EVs: it's been launching new models like the Equinox EV and several upcoming electric Cadillacs, all while preparing for the reboot of the Bolt EUV next year. And Tesla's Supercharger network just opened up to GM's EVs last week with the use of a new adapter.
But GM certainly hasn't been immune to the headwinds of the EV sector, mainly that sales haven't taken off as quickly as they and other automakers expected. (And increasingly, I wonder what it was they all seemed to expect.) Barra admitted earlier this year that GM won't hit a previous goal of 1 million EVs sold by 2025 and that it will delay several new models and factories as it waits for the market to "develop."
As disappointing as that is, Barra at least reaffirmed the overall goal on CBS:
But it was her promise three years ago to stop selling gas-powered vehicles by 2035 – and GM's ability to live up to it – that will likely define her legacy.
Asked if she anticipates GM will be all-electric by 2035, Barra replied, "For our light-duty vehicles, yes. We'll be guided by the consumer, but the plans that we have in place will get us there." Nonetheless, in the face of slowing EV sales, Barra said, "I don't think we ever thought it was gonna be linear."
The "light duty" caveat, which has been used before, is interesting. GM seems to be as skeptical of the electric heavy-duty work truck as Ford is—and I'm fairly unconvinced on giant, 200 kWh batteries for trucks too—but that's just me reading the lines there.
But Barra's also in a tough spot because she's seeking to get more customers for very mainstream American brands like Chevrolet and GMC into EVs. I don't mean to generalize too much, but that's a very different customer base than Rivian or Tesla, and the politicization of EVs may be tougher for GM to navigate. It certainly caught Barra by surprise:
Barra was surprised that EVs have become a political issue: "I never thought the propulsion system on a vehicle would be," she said. "Again, I think one of the strengths of General Motors is we're giving people choice. We're not telling you what you have to have. We're saying, if you want this, we have it."
Then again, the Bolt EV and EUV were the top-selling U.S. EVs that weren't Teslas in 2023. If you build it, and it's cheap enough and good enough, they will come.
60%: Nissan Discovers An Exciting New Technology Called PHEVs
If you believe in an electrified future, there are reasons to be optimistic about GM these days. Less so for Nissan, which blew an early lead in the EV race to keep making anodyne-looking gas cars powered by engines that they were running when I was in high school. (Which was over 20 years ago, for context.)
While the staying power of the VQ35 family of V6 engines is certainly a master class in cost amortization, Nissan does feel quite behind the curve on its powertrain strategy. It sells one EV in the U.S. and no hybrids here. But it is planning to join GM in offering some plug-in hybrids in the back half of this decade, Nikkei Asia reports.
Like the rest of the auto industry in Japan, a country that struggles with scarce natural resources and has a challenged relationship with electricity generation, Nissan has lagged on cars with plugs. Even Toyota's PHEV sales are drop in the bucket compared to conventional hybrids. But Nissan may soon lean on partners at Mitsubishi to get properly in the PHEV game:
Nissan Motor plans to develop its own plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, preparing to reach the market as soon as the late 2020s, Nikkei has learned, and also is considering having partner company Mitsubishi Motors supply PHEVs to Honda Motor, which does not offer that type of vehicle in the Japanese market.
As sales of fully electric vehicles stall globally amid high prices, Nissan sees highly profitable PHEVs as an important bridge to the time EVs achieve wide adoption.
Sales are rising for PHEVs, which combine an electric motor with a conventional fuel-powered engine. General Motors also has begun to consider developing plug-in hybrids for the U.S. market.
Electric vehicles are broadly classified into EVs, PHEVs and hybrids. These environmentally friendly autos emit less carbon dioxide than cars powered solely by petrochemicals.
PHEVs have a longer driving range than EVs because they also carry an engine. Unlike hybrids, they can be charged from household electrical outlets. Despite offering the advantages of both technologies, Japanese PHEVs have been limited to a few models offered by Toyota Motor and Mitsubishi Motors.
Then again, Nissan has made big promises on EVs before, and the late 2020s may as well be 500 years away considering how fast the tech market moves—and how far ahead China is all sorts of plug-in cars.
90%: An Upside To South Korea's EV Fire Crisis?
Meanwhile in South Korea, a country that is quite advanced at EVs, a recent spate of underground parking garage fires has buyers on edge. Sales of EVs are now plummeting there, while they had been on the rise before this.
However, the Korean government seems to be acting swiftly to reassure car buyers that EVs are safe, and it has enacted groundbreaking rules around battery sourcing transparency. Bloomberg's Heesu Lee, based in Seoul and an EV owner herself, manages to find an upside here:
With the investigation still underway and the cause of the Mercedes fire yet to be identified, some carmakers, including Hyundai, General Motors and Porsche have taken the matter into their own hands by voluntarily disclosing their battery suppliers and offering free safety inspections to EV owners.
The government has also pledged to strengthen safety measures in parking lots and require more EV makers and battery charging operators to have adequate insurance cover. Whether those measures are enough to calm the unease around EVs is yet to be seen. As for me, I’m content to keep driving my EV.
And the flip side of risk is opportunity. If South Korea pushes forward and ends up with effective and comprehensive regulations in place, it could be a chance for the country to build a more resilient environment for EVs in the future.
And it could serve as an example for the rest of the world.
100%: How Do Automakers Get Past EV Politics?
If you're GM, how do you get past the knee-jerk anti-EV politics that are out there? I'll say it again: people want a good deal. Give them something really affordable and also means they'll never have to pay for gasoline again and just see how fast they lose any misconceptions.
It's just technology, folks. It doesn't need to get political.
Contact the author: patrick.george@insideevs.com
