GM: New batteries will make electric-car prices equal to gas-powered cars
General Motors said a pending breakthrough in battery chemistry will cut the price of its electric vehicles so they equal those powered by gasoline within five years. The technology also will increase the range per charge to as much as 450 miles.
The company’s productdevelopment chief promised a small electric SUV that will cost less than $30,000 and pledged to roll out 30 battery-powered models worldwide by 2025. Nearly all current electric vehicles cost more than $30,000.
The announcement Thursday showed how fast electric-vehicle technology is evolving and how it might become the primary fuel for transportation sooner than almost anyone believed.
Ford and Fiat Chrysler recently announced plans to build electric vehicles and components at Canadian factories, and Volkswagen, the world’s topselling automaker, is increasing its EV spending and models. “There’s going to be a lot more EVs coming,” Guidehouse Insights Principal Analyst Sam Abuelsamid said.
The challenge for automakers and startups has always been balancing range against battery costs, and GM appears to have gone beyond that, Abuelsamid said.
“What we’re seeing now is that they’re confident enough on their costs that they think they can offer those 300-to-400 mile range vehicles, and the upfront cost is similar to internal-combustion vehicles,” Abuelsamid said.
The developments arrive as government pollution regulations tighten worldwide, with California and the United Kingdom recently announcing plans to ban gas-powered new vehicle sales in 10 to 15 years. President-elect Joe Biden is likely to restore fuel-economy regulations that have been rolled back by President Donald Trump, with Biden vowing to spend billions on electric vehicles and charging infrastructure.
“If you look at all the forecasts, the estimates, generally, the demand is kind of potentially being forecast to pick up,” said Doug Parks, GM executive vice president of product development. “We think the industry is transforming, and so we want to be at the leading edge of this.”
The company also wants to supplant Tesla as the global electric-vehicle leader.
GM said it will raise spending on electric vehicles from $20 billion to more than $27 billion through 2025.
The new battery-cell chemistry, now undergoing early tests at a lab inside GM’s suburban Detroit technical center, can hold twice as much energy as the company’s current batteries, Parks said.
They’ll also cost 60% less than current battery packs in the Chevrolet Bolt electric car, he said.
The chemistry, which will use lithium metal anodes, will help GM package battery cells for various vehicles at different price points and ranges, Parks said. The new battery cells also will be used by Honda, which is partnering with GM and battery-cell supplier LG Chem of Korea.
Parks said GM’s next generation of batteries due out next year already are getting close to reducing electric-vehicle costs so they are similar to gaspowered vehicles, especially when fuel costs are factored in.
He said GM will build its own batteries to take advantage of economies of scale as more electric vehicles are sold. “We’ll learn it. We’ll perfect it. We’ll scale it and we’ll ride that cost curve down,” Parks said.
Slides presented at the virtual Barclays Global Automotive Conference on Thursday made reference to future electric Chevrolet sedans and sports cars, GMC and Chevrolet fullsize electric pickups, an electric GMC Hummer full-size SUV, Chevrolet and Buick electric crossover SUVs, and electric Cadillac full-size SUVs, smaller crossover SUVs and sedans or sports cars. Several “key high volume” vehicles will come by 2023.
Parks said one of the Chevrolet crossover SUVs would be similar in size to the brand’s Equinox. As sales volumes rise for that mass-market SUV, that will help GM offer electric vehicles at even lower prices, he said.