GM gears up electric vehicle ambitions

General Motors is gearing up an all-out push to catch up to Tesla in electric vehicles.

The automaker said Thursday it was accelerating plans to introduce electric cars and trucks over the next five years, and it expected to spend $27 billion by 2025 on the effort, up from $20 billion.

“We think the industry is transforming, and to lead it, you’ve got to be better than other folks,” said Doug Parks, a GM executive vice president.

Although Tesla “has got a good jump” and a number of startups are focused on electric vehicles, he said, “we’re not going to cede leadership.”

GM 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.

Parks said GM aimed to introduce 30 electric models around the world by 2025, about 10 more than it had previously disclosed.

Twenty will be available in the United States. Among the first will be a Hummer electric SUV that is supposed to arrive in showrooms late next year. A Cadillac SUV, called the Lyriq, is now due in the first quarter of 2022, nine months earlier than previously planned, Parks said.

Other models will include an electric pickup truck and SUV for its Chevrolet brand, as well as other models “at all price points,” Parks said.

Parks promised a small electric SUV that will cost less than $30,000. Nearly all current electric vehicles cost more than $30,000. He said the company expected its Ultium modular battery packs to provide a range up 450 miles.