GM aims to create a domestic battery supply base in order to reduce EVs and increase profitability by Kart Certie, which built Tesla’s important Panasonic relations in the startup era.
By Fobbus’s staff, Alan Oonsman
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk started kicking the electric vehicle market in 2008 when he started selling roadster, but his rule has slid 17 years later.
The company’s sales have declined for the first time, and the short -paying span of mercury’s billionaire has been fragmentated among five different companies. This is an important role in the new Trump administration, a monomial obsession with owning Libs, and he is out of the game. And rivals are paying attention.
The top of it is General Motors. Detroit -based automakers are famous for killing EV1, the first commercial electric vehicle in 2002, and the movement that influenced the creation of Tesla in 2003 was due to great growth in space. It is positioned itself.
In 2024, GM’s EV sales rose sharply from 50 % to 114,432. This is the best so far with the new Equinox EV, the Tesla model Y fighter. This has become one of the rapidly growing players in the electric space. Tesla, on the other hand, has ruled as a dominant electric name plate after its poor startup year, selling 633,762 EVs to US buyers 5 times the GM volume. However, it has decreased by 5.6 % since 2023, even if a polarized cyber track has been added. The CEO has added actions that have become the controversy of ELON MUSK, and this year, this year, is further facing further issues in EV Crazy California, the top market market.
“I intend to reproduce what is being done in China.”
Cart Kelti
GM is not just following the market share of Tesla. It targets the heart of the company: Battery. And in order to confirm that GM EVs will increase as much as possible, Tesla veterans with serious battery chops have been helped.
“It starts with the battery. It’s the biggest cost driver, so we’re making a lot of effort on it,” said Kurt Kelty, who joined GM last year. 3 seconds in 2017. He also spent more than six years at the battery technologies startup SILA created by another early Tesla graduate, and stinted when Panasonic, the most important cell supplier of Tesla.
Kartkelti, the Tesla battery technology director at the time, explains the Tokyo Model S in 2012.
AFP via Getty Images
Reducing these costs means that TESLA and other US car manufacturers acquire pages from the world’s dominant batteries and EV producers that depend on processed lithium, graphite, cobalt, anode, and cathodes. Is meaning.
GM, Vice President of GM’s battery operation, told Forbes. “We are trying to bring this supply chain here … it is integrated vertically in North America.”
These procedures include investing in more than $ 1 billion in companies that manufacture graphite and lithium, and the production of Cathode in Tennessee, dealing with Korean LG chemicals. As a result, the transport of battery components from China, multiple week processes, and large -scale savings related to reduced headaches of quality control.
“I have a product in the water for five weeks, but only to know that there is a refusal in that part,” he said. “There are many costs that are not included in advance.”
The low -cost battery -based setup movement was quoted in the reasons why Edison Yu of Deutsche Bank EquityTystt purchases GM shares this month. Savings. “
EV rejector
The affordable price is the center of the GM EV strategy and is starting to be rewarded. The new EQUINOX, a price from about $ 35,000, was equipped with 125 % of the company in the last quarter of 2024. This year, we rely on improved bolt hatchbacks this year to set prices from a low price of $ 30,000 and raise things further. GM’s new GM’s 52,000 dollar Cadillac Optiq, small SUVs, and large -scale Cadillac Lyriq from $ 58,000 are also boosting premium buyers. Even before the new bolts and more Cadillac models develop, GM has the largest US EV lineup: nine models and five Tesla.
“Basically, it changes from $ 35,000 to the price range, suddenly,” Mabeth “with a strong” NOS “. ”
Ed Kim, Autopacific
The suppression of the price of electric vehicles is even more important. According to COX Automotive, the Trump administration has killed a $ 7,500 federal incentive to a new EV buyer, and the average cost can rise from the current $ 55,500. This will be 12 % more expensive than the average of $ 49,740 for all new vehicles.
“If you investigate consumers and identify what is called an EV rejector, the biggest reason you quote is the price is the price.” However, basically, the price range from $ 35,000, suddenly it changes to a strong “NOS”. “
That is one of the reasons that Tesla’s $ 100,000 cybertracks, except for their brutal styling, did not run away by the masked fans. Last year, Tesla sold only 38,965 last year, despite the reservation of about 250,000 people than on the sales date. Tesla has recently killed a cheap version of $ 61,000, so he has the potential to be a niche model.
Cheaper EV
The company has strengthened Equinox production and prepares completely improved bolts, which is the best for GM President Mark Lois. Even if the price of the car becomes a GM top -selling, it will be replaced in the middle of the first -generation first -generation model of the $ 30,000 that was canceled in 2023.
Bolt says, “A completely new class segment and customers open. Lloyd Royce, a former father of his father, Lloyd Royce, his father, Lois, who supervised the EV1 program, stated: The 1990s. General Motors will have more buyers for the first time.
General Motors
Both REUSS and Jeremy Short, the GM’s New Bolt chief engineer, have refused to share details on new versions. It may also be changed to other EV platforms. “It’s not surprising to keep doing some other things from the bolt. It’s even a possibility that the bolt price range may be different,” Lois said.
The final price setting is that, as analysts predicted, Tesla releases a cheaper version of model Y and 3 to a cheap version of the US top -selling EVs, and sells the federal government’s incentives. It may be affected by whether or not to support. Last year, the mask seemed to download the so -called $ 25,000 Tesla model 2 idea.
However, Tesla may lose more US market share than this year, regardless of how people are looking at the mask. Autopacific’s Kim.
“Tesla has been severely injured by more than 50 % in consideration of the clear future consideration of 2023.”
Alexander Edwards, strategic vision
Tesla’s market share will decrease further with more competition, “he said. “His right and right extremist, Tom -Fulle, will definitely affect, but more direct competition in the EV space is enormous.”
Tesla’s brand appeal is also weakened. STRATEGIC VISION, the latest evaluation of San Diego -based research companies, found that tens of thousands of people were investigating each week. 2023.
“Tesla has been severely injured by more than 50 % in consideration of a clear future into 2023,” said the strategic vision CEO Alexander Edwards. “If you are playing a long game, that is not allowed.”
GM says that it will only expect EV sales this year without providing Hard Number. In the industry as a whole, the EVS must have a market share of about 8 % in 2024 this year, that is, 10 % of over 1.3 million people. If Trump has not ended the federal incentive, it will grow faster.
“I don’t know if it would have a significant effect on our strategies and plans if the credit was gone,” Lois said. “Some of the overall recruitment may be slow, but … our plan and strategy have been the same for a long time.”
Battery veteran
Kelty was hired in Panasonic, and was hired by Martin Eberhard and former CTO JB Stravel in Tesla Cofounders in early 2006, and is suitable for focusing GM to battery prices and quality. He has insight and connection to achieve GM cost goals. And what he’s doing is completely different from stubbornly pushing a good lithium -ion cells 19 years ago for Roadster, the roadster.
At that time, Tesla purchased cells from a new Chinese company, which was the only company to sell, but they said, “It was terribly contradictory.” “My job was to persuade us to supply us to one of Japanese or Korean companies.”
He signed a contract with Japanese Sanio, but believed that Panasonic, his former employer, or Sony was better. “They have refused to sell to us. We were too dangerous,” Kelti said.
“The president of Panasonic wrote to Martin (Everhardt) and told him he didn’t want to sell it to Tesla, and cart said he should stop them.” I told him to stop. Nevertheless, he returned to Osaka anyway, “I finally persuaded us to sell it to us! From there, it is a history.”
The transaction was one of the important steps to put Tesla on the way to commercial success. Not only did Panasonic become a top cell supplier, but at the time of IPO, he purchased 1.4 million shares for $ 30 million in 2010 and invested directly in the company. Later, we sold the shares for $ 3.6 billion, so it was a smart movement. Panasonic also partnered with Tesla at Nevada’s first battery gigafactory to create a solar panel for a while in Buffalo, Tesla, New York.
Recently, Kelty has a much larger resource with the function of creating a large GM battery R & D team and prototype cells in -house. He is convinced that GM can quickly develop a battery in a “sweet spot” for automotive use. Energy density comparable to lithium -ion cells and low cost and durability of cheaper lithium iron cells specialized by CATL and BYD for Chinese batteries.
“We will take the chemistry in the middle of them,” he said. “You don’t have to be ultra -high energy density. If you exceed 300 miles, you’ll find that you are in a good place with your customers.”
Details from Forbes
