While General Motors has a number of its own issues to address, it seemingly took the opportunity to kick Tesla while its down at the recent Barclays Global Automotive Conference. The GM CEO Mary Barra spoke to the audience about her company’s plans for a new family of electric vehicles that are scheduled for launch in 2021 that will be able to generate profits for the company.
The remarks come on the heels of Tesla announcing a record $619 million loss in the third quarter, and its continuing struggles to meet production demands for the Model 3 which launched this summer. One of the cornerstones of Barra’s plan is to develop an electric vehicle platform that can accommodate multiple vehicle types – from cars to SUVs.
This will allow GM to realize electric vehicle sales throughout its global dealership network. Last month, the company said it planned to launch 20 new EVs by 2023. Barra went on to say that GM hopes to be selling as many as one million electric vehicles annually by 2026. Total global EV sales are not projected to top one million annually until 2019.
GM’s promise of profitable EVs centers on a new battery system that is said to be more than 30 percent cheaper than the one powering the Chevrolet Bolt. The key metric appears to be reducing the cost of lithium-ion batteries to less than $100 per kilowatt-hour from its current level of $145 per kilowatt-hour. This cost reduction would need to accompany extended vehicle usage ranges without pricey add-ons that drive up vehicle cost and limit the number of potential customers.