Interview with Mary Barra
 

Stewart Varney is a national treasure in this interview.

One thing that Mary has going here: She is absolutely betting the future of GM and if you take her at her word all the coins are on the table. GM is going to double down on its plan to remove the product from the market that people want to buy (gas engines) and move to replace the technology with an "all electric future" starting in 2023.

SO GM will continue to price the corporation out of the gas internal combustion market as it transitions to Electric. This has been going on for years in fact just try getting the LS 6.2 in a truck these days and look at the mandatory options to get it.

On the bright side Chrysler will very likely still be there to sell you a Hemi just about anyway you want it.


https://video.foxbusiness.com/v/6113...#sp=show-clips

Gas cars are stone age... this is old news.

FWIW... I was a judge at a well known concourse event in LI and our special guest in 2018 was a respected and senior EVP from Ford special development in particular electric vehicles. He said Ford (and all other majors) are investing heavily in electric and clean diesel. He said Tesla is a pioneer which the auto industry not only respects but also emulates. Any major that is starting on on electric cars and or clean diesel (at the time fall 2018) was 4-5 years behind in R&D that could sink the brand.

I don't own electric at the moment because the technology is too new for me to invest in but in the future (my life time) I expect it to be the only technology for sale. My boss & CEO placed an advanced order for two Telsa trucks. They will be charged by the solar panels on the roof of our distribution centers. Now that is a neat model...

Dan

Dan,

You are right It is old news. Electric preceded internal combustion engines and were rejected by the consumer then and multiple times since.

The math here today is pretty simple: Who in the world is going to pay for the Trillions in new and upgraded transmission infrastructure needed for the adoption of large scale electric vehicle adoption for the masses?

A home charging system for a Tesla currently requires 75 amp service - just for the car. The average small house is equipped with 100 amp service in total.

So I think conventional as we know them now electric style cars are still dead on re-arrival with the exception of perhaps a city commuter (as a short trip car) where the existing hi voltage infrastructure is already in place for charging stations. The Chevy Volt/Bolt fits in here perfectly with a 32 amp charging station the car takes about 8 hours to charge.

Perhaps GM has invented the technology to simply grab electricity out of thin air thus eliminating charging down time??

Or someone is betting on the adoption of the green new deal in the next decade... that sounds more like the calculation in play here.

We will see, but betting the company on it-well you had better be right.

FWIW. According to the Competitive Enterprise institute:

The estimated cost today for a low carbon electricity grid here in the USA is $5.4 Trillion Dollars.

That is a $39,000 hit to each household not factoring in the number of households that will technically fall below the threshold to participate.

My post here got some interesting feedback from a GM insider and his opinions as to what is really afoot here is interesting to say the least.

Plans for Electric were accelerated in 2017. This caused a war to break out between the legacy part of GM and the electric contingent. There were many retirements and good people forced out of legacy programs when Electric won. It was a purge a total purge. Legacy lost the war.

On midsize rear drive...any kind of evolution of Alpha is incompatible with current "Electric Vision" that leaves GM with only 4 vehicle platforms by 2025.

These platforms are exclusively electric compatible with one small car platform, one midsize car platform one for an SUV, and one for a truck.

Gen 7 Camaro was under development in 2017-2018 as an update of the existing Alpha platform.

Camaro is not sales that is a smoke screen. The car simply cannot return on Alpha for 2023. The earliest Camaro can return is 2025 when its electric compatible platform is ready and as a result Camaro is going on Hiatus again then".

So who is picking up the tab for all the new power plants? Powered by what? A lot more to this equation than just electric cars.

The opinion of the insider was that there was a degree of alignment within GM starting with the political perception that POTUS would be removed and the retaking of the house in 2018. Green new deal was proposed right out of the gate in early 2019.

I asked the same question who is paying? His reply was “well who do you think? The taxpayers of course”.

I was typing my comments before I seen your post.



So it sounds like that the new platforms will have to be able to offer an electric version but still offer a gas powered option at least for the short term of these new architectures..?.

I am sure there are tax breaks set in place for these electric technologies and I can see LG sharing in the cost of said expenses along with GM. Which means it'll trickle down to the consumer at some point. "The end is coming."

I find it interesting that they're planning on all electric by the mid 20's, especially considering the current minor amount of electric charging stations throughout the country. How are they going to address this? Gas stations are EVERYWHERE, but charging stations are few and far between. Are they counting on the free market to fill this gap? Are they hoping that by going full electric, they will force the market to change?

Honestly, I was hoping more for a slow changeover to electric if it had to occur, as this just seems very strong-arm. Hopefully GM is the exception versus the rule and other manufacturers won't all abandon the ICE.

I will say, a few years ago I thought that the owners of McDonalds restaurants along the interstates across the country should install electric vehicle chargers in a couple spots in their parking lots. They could then charge a fee for charging as well as expect that people would stop and eat there while charging. Probably still not a bad idea.

They can't even get, or won't work on getting, internet or cell signals out into major parts of the country. I find it hard to believe that they're going to make internal combustion obsolete in my life time. A good sum of people won't be able to charge them etc.