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.

Hawk,

I get it. I will rage against the dying of the light to my last breath.

I know it was talked about in the past, but with all the electric cars in our future and dwindling gas cars, the gas tax pool will be come smaller and smaller. Tax money to fix roads was normally paid at the pump. With less gas cars the taxes to will have to come from electric owners. Maybe part of the registration process.

Maybe not a complete wipeout of the gas engine but I can see it flip flopped where it is today with gas vs elec on the road. Especially in major cities.

When GM pays too much to buy Tesla out, they’ll have a built in network of charging stations. I believe they have 2000, or more, charging stations and are adding new ones every day. Stations range from 10 to 50 or more charge points at each station.

I still fail to see how it’s going to work in the cities and neighbors of America. Where is the power coming from with no more fossil fuel, or nuclear power plants, let alone the infrastructure to electrify every neighborhood and home.

Hope GM knows what they’re doing, I’d hate to see them go down the tubes over this.

My company had over 250 trucks on the road every day, pickups to heavy duty service trucks. When you have guys on the road that are billed out at $150 an hour, they can’t be waiting at a charge station for their batteries to charge.

Hi Gang, very interesting topic for me, for two reasons; obviously, The Car Reason and also that my day job is (partly) permitting EVCS (Electric Vehicle Charging Stations) - I work the local jurisdictions for our clients to get the facilities permitted and have done so for a few years now, about 25 sites for Tesla and more recently, another 25 for Electrify America. Previously, I permitted WTFs (cell sites) and did so for about twenty years.

Secondly, we also bought a new Chevy Bolt last June - and to echo what was previously said here, it's a great commuter car for Mrs. Anthony, as she works about six miles from home and it's been great for that - and it plugs in to our household 110 outlet, no mods necessary at all. Of course, it's a terribly slow charge at home, but in a pinch you can pay ChargePoint while you sit in a Walmart parking lot or somewhere else - in fact, she has two third party chargers at her work parking lot, but she likes to let others use those that have more of a need. I've only ran into range anxiety with it once, using it all day here in SoCal...

In fact, it was only a few days old during The LA Roadster Show last year, and we had our own impromptu "50 years of Chevrolet" display with it and The Camaro... now, that was funny!

Cheers everyone, Anthony

Perhaps the last time we had this much change proposed was between 1970 and 1975.

The difference then was that the Government tipped the scales with regulation causing the change and industry opposed it.

Today we have the social force behind the global Climate movement and the Paris Accord vs the US Government where the federal Government has withdrawn from the deal but several states along with several large corporations (who do business globally) are apparently still voluntarily going to comply with it.

On the bright side the price/value of a well maintained used Gas engine vehicle could be set to increase in value.:beers:

Might increase in the short term but I see only a select few of the gas fed cars holding value. Most will fall. To what degree? Not sure anyone knows. Let’s face it the future generations are growing smaller and smaller that have the same interests and passions for this hobby.

I hope I am dead and gone before a company offers an “electric swap for your musclecar..”

I would think that for a better transition, hybrid vehicles would have been a far better approach until battery tech grows enough to allow for more range. Here in SWFL, there are only a few charging stations, so not sure how that would work for a full time EV.

It's one or the other. All energy is the result of a nuclear reaction, either the sun's, or a human initiated reaction here. Solar, wind, fossil, hydro, gas, are all directly of indirectly a result of the sun's continuous nuclear reaction.

Too late.....
https://www.hagerty.com/articles-vid...in-your-garage

Is that your 60?

Whoops read the article

From an article in late 2017...now this is making more sense.

“China is their (GM’s) biggest market,” said Michelle Krebs, analyst at Autotrader, told the Los Angeles Times. “If China decides to go electric, they have to do it.”

https://www.greentechmedia.com/artic...icles-china-ev

China will mandate to the masses that electric vehicles will be the only way and they will build the infrastructure to make it happen. We are doing work for Tesla in China on the Model Y and the numbers they are throwing out there are impressive...20k per week. USA is soon to be a secondary market for automakers.

Electric Vehicles
 

A friend dropped off the book The Great Race by Levi Tillemann over the weekend . It explains the Quest for the car of the future , its history and future plans for development. Its a real eye opener , whether we want it or not. WAG

GM Has 12 EVs Coming: Here's What They Are (Probably)

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news...cid=spartandhp

USA has been second to China in new vehicles sold for quite a few years - I want to say the ranks tipped in 2012.

That's very true.

The difference is that GM made these moves expecting China overtake the rest of the world in economic terms and to do so quickly.

GM gambled on the Status Quo in place 5 years ago.

Now China is now dropping faster than a rock. The cause is the recent rise of populism here in the US -ending with the resulting trade war last year which the US just won and handily.

Finally now the other shoe drops with the COVID-19 contagion disaster- the impacts to China may linger for years or even decades.

This is a fact. No one I know is buying an EV. No one I know is planning to buy one.

As it stands now the US will maintain its status as the largest net supplier of oil, and this should not be a news flash but the world economy is pegged to the value of a barrel of oil.

The way things are shaping up here politically I do not see a path forward for the kind of public or private infrastructure landslide needed to make EV's mainstream here in North America anytime soon.

Companies that survive have to be nimble and ready to change on a dime. GM still has a chance to compromise and keep some of its legacy platforms in production.

What I cannot reconcile and what the GM insider agrees on 100% BTW-- is how in the world the US Taxpayer bails out GM in 2011 and saves the company from being sold off only to have the company reward North America with a future product selection that seems goal set to implement a total product shift that ignores the needs and desires of the very customer base that just punched the ticket to keep GM alive.

China did not bail out GM. We did. I hope GM has something really good to announce because It may need The North American market to stay in business.

Great comment! You put into words what I was thinking, but expounded nicely.

As the world stands today, GM seems to be placing all of it's eggs into the wrong basket. As I stated earlier, I have no idea why you would shift an entire portfolio of vehicle offerings in a completely new direction when there is virtually minimal infrastructure to support them, the tech doesn't exist (or is proprietary) to get the range where people are comfortable (range anxiety), and people haven't expressed in enough numbers the desire to drive an electric vehicle. This is a huge bet that I don't think they're going to win.

My drive each day to the office is about 15 miles. My long trips are usually in old cars on car tours. I love the performance aspect of electric cars and plan on having one. No more oil changes, just plug it in at night. A brainiac friend just did a 3 year lease on a new Chevy Bolt and absolutely loves it.

^ Hear, hear Charley. Mrs. Anthony loves ours, and while I only drove it a few times, I was actually very impressed with the acceleration. Really. It scoots. I can’t imagine what one of those crazy Teslas must feel like.

A lease is a smart move. LG Chem has some major teething issues.


The current list price of a Bolt EV HV battery pack is $15,734.29 and the GM part number is # 24285978. What happens when GM quits replacing these for free?


More Here: https://insideevs.com/news/342671/my...ack-heres-why/

I had an opportunity to drive one last summer when a customer was trying one out before buying and asked if I wanted to take it for a ride. They have a "launch mode" that is quite impressive. Not sure I'd make the switch to electric personally based on my driving needs - but it really opened my eyes to the performance capabilities.

This is why Mary's likely on the right track. They're pretty good. Give a little Performance Model 3 a go if you're shopping around - Pilot Sports, Brembos (to augment the re-gen!) and a little extra juice; why let the autopilot have all the fun?! Just needs the exhaust from this V-dub ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Om28...ature=youtu.be

https://www.ccn.com/tesla-is-slowly-...nto-recession/

https://rivian.com/


Up to 750 hp with up to 400 mile range, 0-60 in 3 seconds and 11000lb towing.


Electric works for me.

Charley

Please Keep us posted on your ownership experience when you get it.:beers:

My buddy ordered one. HQ in my backyard, looks cool!

Chevrolet Performance has also been working on an 'eCrate' conversion. They built a 1962 C-10 prototype.

https://www.hotrod.com/articles/1962...runs-high-13s/

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