EVs to constitute nearly half of GM vehicle launches by 2025
EVs to constitute nearly half of GM vehicle launches by 2025
General Motors (GM) has said that more than 40 per cent of its new vehicle launches in China over the next five years will be electrified models.
China has long been pushing for a transition to electric vehicles in a bid to clean up the air quality of its major cities; in January 2017 electric vehicle sales in China eclipsed the rest of the world combined.
GM said its new models will all be manufactured in China, with almost all parts coming from local suppliers.
They will all use its “state-of-the-art” Ultium battery system that GM claims can give its vehicles a range of 400 miles alongside fast charging.
It also plans to integrate its Super Cruise driver assistance system - which provides limited self-driving functionality - on the entire Cadillac line-up by mid-decade, before being expanded to Buick and Chevrolet models.
By 2022 GM said that all new Cadillac models will be 5G compatible, so the vehicles can recieve over-the-air updates using the next-generation wireless technology.
“We will enhance local integration and global collaboration by capitalising on China-leading market trends and playing to the local industry’s strengths,” said Julian Blissett (pictured above), president of GM China. “We are ready to activate a new era.”
GM has committed significant R&D funding to driverless and electric vehicles tech – it plans to invest more than $20bn in such technologies by 2025.
The automaker’s overhauled line-up is an attempt to stem a slide of sales in China after more than two decades of growth in the country. It did not say in its statement how many new or significantly redesigned models it was planning to launch in China over the next five years.
"China will assume a pivotal part in making our vision a reality,” GM CEO Mary Barra said.
In 2018, a study found that without rapid adoption of renewable sources of power, China’s attempts to electrify its citizen’s vehicle fleet could worsen localised air pollution
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