Automotive giant General Motors (GM) announced another major increase in investments in its electric and autonomous vehicle business, as it targets a major share of the EV and AV market.
GM now says that it plans $35 billion in EV and AV investments from 2020 through 2025, well above the prior level of $27 billion announced in November 2020, and 75% above its original announcement of a $20 billion investment earlier in 2020.
GM’s EV development is focused on its Ultium battery platform and HYDROTEC fuel cells, which provide the building blocks for everything, from mass market to high-performance vehicles.
The company’s additional investments will accelerate its transformative strategy to become a market leader in EVs in North America, including building two new battery cell manufacturing plants in the US as well as a collaboration with Honda to build two EVs using Ultium Energy. The company will also supply Navistar with HYRDOTEC for the development of hydrogen-powered heavy trucks and Liebherr-Aerospace for next-generation lunar vehicles to transport astronauts on the surface of the Moon. GM also confirmed plans to launch a third-generation HYDROTEC fuel cell with a greater power density and lower cost by 2025.
According to GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra, the company is now aiming for sales of 1 million EV units per year by 2025. Barra said:
“We are investing aggressively in a comprehensive and highly integrated plan to make sure that GM leads in all aspects of the transformation to a more sustainable future. GM is targeting annual global EV sales of more than 1 million by 2025, and we are increasing our investment to scale faster because we see momentum building in the United States for electrification, along with customer demand for our product portfolio.”
Earlier this year, the company also announced a series of initiatives including targets to achieve carbon neutrality by 2040, and an aspiration to eliminate tailpipe emissions from new light-duty vehicles by 2035.
Cruise, GM’s majority-owned subsidiary recently became the first company to receive permission to provide driverless AV passenger service to the public and has been given a $5 million credit facility to safely deploy self-driving technology at scale. The company also announced to further expand its electric mobility strategy by delivering 30 new EVs globally by 2025.
GM Chair and CEO Mary Barra added:
“There is a strong and growing conviction among our employees, customers, dealers, suppliers, unions and investors, as well as policymakers, that electric vehicles and self-driving technology are the keys to a cleaner, safer world for all”
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