General Motors made a bold claim on Tuesday, January 25, saying it will overtake Tesla as the top US-based seller of electric vehicles by the mid-2020s. General Motors issued the direct challenge after announcing a massive $6.6 billion investment in its home state of Michigan to build a new EV battery cell plant and increase electric pickup-truck production through the year 2024.
The vast outlay is part of GM's plan to increase its production capacity in North America and build 1 million electric vehicles by 2025. General Motors is dead serious with its electrification plans, with the automaker now pledging to spend $35 billion on the development of EV cars.
GM CEO Mary Barra released a statement about her company's big investment, saying, "We will have the products, the battery cell capacity, and the vehicle-assembly capacity to be the EV leader by mid-decade."
GM's task to dethrone Tesla definitely would not be easy
Accomplishing that feat in just three years certainly won't be easy for GM, with Tesla already establishing its foothold at the top of the US EV market. Tesla showed its might just last year, selling a total of 936,172 electric vehicles globally.
Tesla does not release its US sales specifically, but it is way ahead of the competition at this point. General Motors is not even in second place in EV sales in the United States last year, with that distinction falling to Ford, which managed to sell 27,140 Mustang Mach-E EVs. GM, for that matter, failed to hit the 25,000 mark in EV sales last year.
Tesla is not resting on its laurels. The company is expected to increase its production capacity in the United States to 1 million later this year once its second domestic plant in Texas goes fully online. GM wants to grab a bigger share of the pie, and its latest investments will go a long way in boosting its sales of EV cars.
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GM to build new battery plant in Lansing
Through a joint venture with LG Energy Solution, General Motors will invest $2.6 billion for a new battery plant in Lansing, Michigan. The automaker will also invest $4 billion to convert its Orion Assembly plant in suburban Detroit to produce GM's upcoming electric trucks. The plant is expected to develop future versions of the GMC Sierra and Chevrolet Silverado starting in 2024.
In addition to those two large investments, General Motors will also upgrade its two Lansing-area assembly plants for non-electric vehicles to a tune of $510 million. That pushes General Motors' investment in four Michigan manufacturing sites to more than $7 billion.
That is great news for the state of Michigan, as General Motors' latest move will create jobs. With the influx of capital, GM is expected to retain 1,000 current employees and create 4,000 new jobs.
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