GM will announce boosted spending plans for EVs on Thursday: sources
Send a link to a friend
[November 18, 2020] By
Ben Klayman and David Shepardson
(Reuters) - General Motors Co will roll out
details of an expanded and accelerated electric vehicle strategy on
Thursday in an effort to convince investors it can be a serious
competitor to Tesla Inc, people familiar with the plans said.
GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, who is scheduled to speak at a conference
hosted by Barclays, is expected to say the automaker is ready to spend
more on electric models by 2025 than the $20 billion previously
outlined, the sources said.
Supplier sources said previous plans to make the Cadillac brand all
electric by 2030 are being sped up, possibly to 2025, and other sources
said that acceleration will be repeated in other brands and in segments
such as commercial vans.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Nov/18/images/ads/current/heartland_sda_EVENONLINE_110120.png)
Asked about the Thursday appearance, a GM spokeswoman called talk of
increased spending speculative and declined to give details.
The Detroit automaker is also expected to discuss a new timeline for
many of the EVs to follow those already identified, such as the GMC
Hummer EV pick-up and Cadillac Lyriq crossover, people familiar with the
plans said.
Lyriq is slated to go into production in late 2022, but GM officials
have been stung by criticism the automaker was bringing the vehicle to
market too late, one source said.
"The pull-ahead in programs is real and the organization is really
doubling down on speeding up product development," the source said.
[to top of second column] |
![](../images/111820PIX/busine31.jpg)
An undated handout photo shows the new Cadillac Lyriq, one of the
electric vehicles that General Motors Co said on October 20, 2020,
that its Spring Hill, Tennessee, factory will begin to produce.
General Motors Co/Handout via REUTERS
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2020/Nov/18/images/ads/current/graue_preowned_111620.png)
Barra and other GM executives have been signaling the automaker's EV
acceleration plans. She said earlier this month GM would boost capital spending
over the next three years to speed EV development and was talking with other
automakers about partnerships to develop more vehicles using GM's battery
technology.
Last week, a GM executive said the company had pulled forward the rollout of two
"major" EV programs, and GM officials have touted the faster 18-month
development time for the Hummer truck.
Tesla's soaring market capitalization, and growing pressure from regulators to
phase out carbon-emitting engines, has put pressure on established automakers to
respond to investors who view their internal combustion lineups as outmoded and
doomed in the long run.
A critical part of GM's pitch to investors has been its new Ultium batteries,
which it estimates will offer an electric driving range of 400 miles or more on
a single charge. It is building a battery plant with Korean battery maker LG
Chem in northeast Ohio.
GM has said it plans to raise annual capital spending through at least 2023 to
above the $7 billion rate previously outlined to fund its new timetable for EVs.
(Reporting by Ben Klayman in Detroit and David Shepardson in Washington; Editing
by Sonya Hepinstall)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |