GM announces plans to invest 1 billion dollars into new V8 engines and EV components
General Motors (GM) announced today that it will invest nearly $1 billion in four US facilities to produce V-8 engines and EV components. Despite GM advertising it’s going “all in” on electric vehicles, less than 10% of the investment is going toward EV development.
GM’s CEO Mary Barra explained in September, “we want to provide EVs for everyone,” as the company committed to an all-electric future. The automaker has spent much of the last year promoting its upcoming electric vehicle lineup, which includes a Chevy Blazer EV, Chevy Silverado EV, and Chevy Equinox EV, to name a few.
However, the company's recent announcement of investing $918 million in four of its facilities for “V-8 engine production, EV components” raises questions about the company's commitment to electric vehicles. Out of the $918 million, only $64 million is going towards EV component production, which is less than 10% of the total investment.
While GM claims that the Chevy Bolt was the “#1 mainstream EV series in Q3 and Q4,” with deliveries climbing over 50% YOY, total electric vehicle sales still amounted to less than 2%, while many companies are already achieving double-digit (or 100%) EV sales share.
This raises the question of whether GM is truly "all in" on electric vehicles, or if it's just talk. V-8 engines won't help GM sell more electric vehicles and most certainly will not help them hit its goal of eliminating tailpipe emissions from its vehicles by 2035.
To be fair, GM is investing over $35 billion through 2025 in electric vehicles and is moving quicker than most automakers. However, they may not be moving as quickly as they claim. The Chevy Bolt is still a great car, nonetheless, winning Electrek’s Car of the Year in 2022 and selling impressively well after a recall derailed its momentum.
If GM’s Mary Barra believes they can beat Tesla, they will need to start by acting fast. Investing almost $1 billion into V-8 engines is the entirely wrong direction. GM is already building V-8s. There should be no need to make any more at this point. The future is fully electric. GM says they are embracing it
More Resources:
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/01/20/gm-investing-new-v8-engines-ev-components.html
https://jalopnik.com/gm-is-investing-almost-1-billion-in-new-v8-engines-1850013640
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