Who Will Win — GM or Tesla? – CleanTechnica

Support CleanTechnica’s work through a Substack subscription or on Stripe.

That may seem like an absurd question to most readers. Though, some will think it’s absurd because they are sure Tesla will win, and others will think it’s absurd because they are sure GM will win. I had a different title there initially, but it was just too long and convoluted: “GM Planning Family of Affordable Electric Cars, while Tesla’s Next Vehicle is a Cybercab without a Steering Wheel.”

GM’s Plan

I saw that a GM executive said they were planning to roll out a family of affordable electric cars after the revived Bolt (which starts under $30,000), which was going to stimulate an article of its own. This sounds like a big plan from GM. While my first thought was to link it to what is happening with EVs in China, I didn’t even have to go there, because GM President Mark Reuss himself actually referenced the topic. He noted that this initiative was being driven by internal R&D to compete with China’s low-cost EVs. “We can’t go and copy the way they do things. We have to be better.”

GM is looking to build on and improve its Ultium platform, is betting on upcoming lithium manganese-rich (LMR) batteries, and is exploring “battery chemistry and form in a different architecture.” GM plans to release its first LMR-based EV model in 2028, developed in partnership with LG.

Getting back to that “family” of affordable electric cars mentioned above, Reuss said that “What comes after (the 2027 Bolt), whether it’s called a Bolt or not, will be a family of things that is low priced.” Interesting…. That sure sounds like what CleanTechnica readers and writers have been calling for.

[embedded content]

I recently wrote about the way the EV revolution has been building silently. Automakers have been increasing the range of EV models more and more while staying at around the same price points and vehicle classes. However, at some point, those dropping battery costs could be used to just offer cheaper electric cars. It appears GM is getting ready to bust open that opportunity.

Also, note that in the meantime, GM is electrifying the Cadillac brand quicker than any other legacy auto brand is electrifying. The GMC Hummer is only available as an EV. And Chevrolet is selling more and more EVs.

Tesla’s Approach

Rather than develop a whole new cheap electric car model to sell underneath the Model 3 and Model Y class, Tesla decided to just release some trimmed down versions of these models and shave a few thousand dollars off their prices. The next actual model it’s bringing to market is the Cybercab. It won’t have a steering wheel.

“The single biggest expansion in production will be the Cybercab, which starts production in Q2 next year,” Elon Musk said on the Tesla quarterly conference call for shareholders last night. “That’s really a vehicle that’s optimized for full autonomy. In fact, it does not have a steering wheel or pedals, and is really an engineering optimization on minimizing cost per — like, fully considered cost per mile of operation.”

So, yes, this is a completely different approach. Tesla is ceding the opportunity to compete in the low-cost car (for human drivers) market, and is instead expecting that its approach to self-driving will win the way and there will be unbelievable, insane demand for the Cybercab. In such a scenario, Musk and team believe low-cost electric cars are a dead end.

Is Tesla putting all of its eggs in this basket? Well, it seems like it! The Model Y and Model 3 have been refreshed, and they are still for sale, but they have been dropping in sales and losing market share — even with the refreshes. The Cybertruck has been a total flop. And there’s no real discussion of other notable models. As Elon said above, the big coming production expansion for Tesla is to build the Cybercab.