GM Became One Of The Fastest-Growing U.S. EV Makers Topping Tesla

Forbes

GM aims to create a domestic battery supply base to make EVs cheaper and profitable aided by Kurt Kelty, who built Tesla’s critical Panasonic relationship in its startup days.  Read the full story on Forbes: https://www.forbes.com/sites/alanohnsman/2025/01/27/gm-topped-tesla-ev-growth/  Subscribe to FORBES: https://www.youtube.com/user/Forbes?sub_confirmation=1  Fuel your success with Forbes. Gain unlimited access to premium journalism, including breaking news, groundbreaking in-depth reported stories, daily digests and more. Plus, members get a front-row seat at members-only events with leading thinkers and doers, access to premium video that can help you get ahead, an ad-light experience, early access to select products including NFT drops and more:  https://account.forbes.com/membership/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=display&utm_campaign=growth_non-sub_paid_subscribe_ytdescript  Stay Connected Forbes newsletters: https://newsletters.editorial.forbes.com Forbes on Facebook: http://fb.com/forbes Forbes Video on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/forbes Forbes Video on Instagram: http://instagram.com/forbes More From Forbes:  http://forbes.com  Forbes covers the intersection of entrepreneurship, wealth, technology, business and lifestyle with a focus on people and success.

Transcript

00:00Today on Forbes, how GM topped Tesla to become one of the fastest-growing U.S. EV makers.

00:09Tesla CEO Elon Musk kick-started the market for electric cars when he first began selling

00:15the Roadster in 2008, but 17 years later, his dominance is slipping.

00:21Tesla's sales are in decline for the first time, and the mercurial billionaire's short

00:26attention span—fragmented between five different companies, a key role in the new

00:30Trump administration, and a monomaniacal obsession with owning the libs—he's off his game.

00:36And rivals are taking notice.

00:39Top among them is General Motors.

00:42The Detroit-based carmaker, which notoriously killed off its first commercial electric car,

00:47the EV1, in 2002—a move that inspired Tesla's creation in 2003—is positioning itself for

00:54major growth in the space.

00:57In 2024, GM's EV sales surged 50 percent to 114,432—its highest ever, aided by the

01:06new Equinox EV, a Tesla Model Y fighter.

01:10That made it one of the fastest-growing players in the electric space.

01:14Meanwhile, Tesla—long past its scrappy startup years—reigns as the dominant electric nameplate,

01:21selling 633,762 EVs to U.S. buyers, five times GM's volume.

01:29But that's down 5.6 percent from 2023, even with the addition of its polarizing Cybertruck.

01:36Add in CEO Elon Musk's controversial behavior, and the brand faces further challenges this

01:41year, especially in EV-crazy California, the country's top market.

01:46GM isn't just going after Tesla's market share.

01:49It's targeting the company's beating heart—batteries.

01:53And it's getting help from a Tesla veteran with serious battery chops to make sure GM

01:57EVs are as profitable as possible.

02:01Kurt Kelty, who joined GM last year after 11 years with Tesla, where he worked on battery

02:06packs from the company's roadster startup days to mass production of Model 3s in 2017,

02:11said, quote,

02:12"...it starts with the battery.

02:15It's the biggest cost driver, so we're putting a huge effort into that."

02:19Kelty also spent over six years with battery tech startup Sela, created by another early

02:24Tesla alum, and did a stint at Panasonic, Tesla's most important cell supplier, when

02:29it started out.

02:31Slashing those costs means taking a page from the world's dominant battery and EV producer,

02:37China, which Tesla and other U.S. automakers rely on for processed lithium, graphite, cobalt,

02:43anodes and cathodes.

02:45Kelty, GM's vice president of battery operations, told Forbes, quote,

02:50"...we're going to, in essence, replicate what's being done in China.

02:54We're trying to bring that supply chain here, vertically integrate in North America."

03:00Those steps include investing more than $1 billion in companies making graphite and lithium,

03:05as well as deals with South Korea's LG Chem to produce cathodes for it in Tennessee.

03:11That results in big savings related to shipping battery components from China, a multi-week

03:16process, as well as fewer quality control headaches.

03:20Kelty said that, like, quote,

03:21"...having product on the water for five weeks that you're financing, only to find

03:25out there's a reject in that part.

03:27There's a lot of costs that are not included up front."

03:31Moves to set up a lower-cost battery supply base were cited among reasons Deutsche Bank

03:36equity analyst Edison Yu raised GM's shares to a buy this month, noting that its EV strategy

03:42wasn't, quote,

03:43"...entirely dependent on volume, but also on battery and materials cost savings."

03:49Affordability is central to GM's EV strategy, and it's starting to pay off.

03:54The new Equinox, priced from about $40,000, powered the company's 125% jump in 2024's

04:00final quarter.

04:02That's counting on a revamped Bolt hatchback due this year, priced from the low $30,000,

04:08to push things up even higher.

04:10GM's new $52,000 Cadillac Optic, a small SUV, and larger Cadillac Lyric, priced from $58,000,

04:18are also boosting sales to premium buyers.

04:22Even before the new Bolt and more Cadillac models roll out, GM already has the broadest

04:27U.S. EV lineup, nine models versus Tesla's five.

04:32For full coverage, check out Alan Onsman's piece on Forbes.com.

04:38This is Kieran Meadows from Forbes.

04:40Thanks for tuning in.

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