DETROIT—General Motors Co. expects its electrified vehicle business to be profitable with the launch of its next-generation electric vehicle platform in 2021, CEO Mary Barra said.
Auto makers have been losing money for years on all-electric vehicles such as the Chevrolet Bolt in exchange for meeting tighter environmental regulations while positioning themselves for an expected increase in demand for alternative powertrains.
GM plans to sell 1 million EVs annually by 2026, driven by ongoing cost reductions and the debut of at least 20 new all-electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles globally by 2023. The product blitz includes four all-new vehicles by 2020, including two by April 2019, a company spokesman confirmed.
Barra said GM expects the second-generation EV platform, which could underpin vehicles that exceed 300 miles in range, will drive total per-unit cost down 30 percent or more. That includes lowering the cost of battery cells to less than $100 per kilowatt-hour from $145 per kWh for the Bolt EV.
"We are working to provide desirable, obtainable and profitable vehicles that deliver a range of over 300 miles," Barra told investors at the Barclays 2017 Global Automotive Conference in New York. "There's a lot of really creative things we're doing to achieve that profitability point for that new platform."