GM putting US$20b towards EVs

General Motors will invest US$20 billion by 2025 in electric and automated vehicles.

Details of GM’s switch to electric were recently revealed by chief executive Mary Barra and other company representatives as GM plans to reduce powertrain combinations and move to a modular EV platform while also developing its Ultium battery technology, Reuters reports.

The battery tech is aimed at cutting battery cell costs to under US$100 a kW/h, expected to make battery packs much cheaper, and the Ultium – using a nickel, manganese, cobalt, aluminum combination – is reported to have about 640km range.

GM aims to have 19 EV powertrain options and sell a million EVs annually in China and the US within five years.

The GMC electric Hummer ute is likely to the first of the next generation EVs off the assembly line in late 2021, the Cadillac Lyriq crossover coming a year later and about 18 more new EV models by 2023.

Meanwhile, Tesla chief executive Elon Musk is expected to announce details around its new battery project on ‘Battery Day’ in April.

That may include information about its ‘Roadrunner’ battery development expected to mass produce battery cells at US$100kW/h.