GM increases its self-driving and EV investment to $35 billion
It will use the additional investment to build more battery factories.
GM has increased the money it's earmarking for its combined EV and self-driving investment from 2020 through 2025 to $35 billion. The largest automaker in the US originally planned to pour $20 billion into the endeavor but decided to give it a boost and up it to $27 billion late last year. Now, as CNBC reports, it's spending even more on efforts to go electric and driverless.
The company will use the additional investment to accelerate the production of its battery and fuel cell technologies. It will build two more battery plants to the US in addition to the two that are already in construction, most likely in an effort to ensure that it doesn't come across battery shortages as it ramps up its EV production. By having its own battery plants (like Tesla does with its Gigafactories), GM wouldn't be at the mercy of third-party manufacturing partners in the future.
In the past, GM said it plans to have 30 EVs on the market by the end of 2025 and to exclusively sell electric vehicles by 2035. So far, GM has already introduced the Hummer EV and the new Chevy Bolts. among other models, but we'll see the company reveal more in the coming years as it continues to electrify vehicles across its brands — especially since the company said it will expand those plans with the additional investment. GM didn't provide any additional details about its new goals. CFO Paul Jacobson only said that the automaker "feel[s] good about all of [its] projects that are going on." He added: "We're moving aggressively and there's a lot a lot of exciting things ahead for us."
